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How to Complain to the Government About the AT&T-T-Mobile Merger

Yesterday’s news that AT&T plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion sent shockwaves through the mobile phone-owning populace, and based on our informal Internet sentiment analysis following the deal, a lot of people are unhappy about it. Many T-Mobile customers don’t want to go over to AT&T, and web freedom advocates dislike AT&T’s complicity in sweeping NSA surveillance programs.

And cell phone owners on all networks have plenty to fear about an America in which there are only three relevant carriers, and one, AT&T-Mo (our coinage, not theirs) essentially has a monopoly on GSM technology in the U.S.

The acquisition is not a done deal yet, but its opponents who simply assume that it would be open-and-shut antitrust may be in for a rude surprise. Former telecom regulator Bruce Gottlieb warns that while some Democrats will almost certainly oppose the merger, AT&T “is the best there is” in the Machiavellian world of Washington lobbying and dealmaking, the White House is unlikely to want to appear anti-business pre-2012 election, and T-Mobile’s ownership by a German company, Deutsche Telekom, makes it far from a favorite in D.C.

Still, since it will ultimately be up to the FCC and the Department of Justice to decide on the deal, citizen input does actually matter here. As much fun as complaining about the deal in Slashdot comment threads may be, here’s how to make sure your thoughts on the deal are heard:

The FCC: According to GigaOM, the FCC has not yet opened a docket on the proposed acquisition; however, any comments on the subject addressed to fccinfo@fcc.gov “will be held until the docket is opened and then added to the record.” The FCC can also be reached by phone at 1-888-CALL-FCC or 1-202-418-1000.

The Department of Justice: The DoJ can be reached at AskDOJ@usdoj.gov, and they provide a guide to filing a complaint on their site. They can be reached by phone at 1-202-307-2040.

Congress: While Congress doesn’t have direct authority to decide on the deal, it will be holding hearings that could make a difference: Gottlieb writes that “Congress, via its oversight authority, [will be] looking over everyone’s shoulder as well.” You can find your Congressperson’s contact information at this site [Representative] or this one [Senate].

(h/t GigaOM)

  • Senor Chang

    So what’s the alternative?

    VZW doesn’t want Tmobile.
    Tmo customers want to merge with Sprint equally as much as they’d want to merge w/ At&t.
    Deutsche Telekom doesn’t want Tmo, obviously.
    So what… give it away to some lesser, regional carrier?
    Let it die completely and just dump all the current customers?
    Keep running a business you don’t want to run anymore?

    No matter what the outcome here, current Tmo customers are going to have to face change and that change can either be ‘Tolerable’, ‘Bad’ or ‘Bloody Butt-Tearing Painful’.

    By selling Tmo, DT is basically telling the world they can’t sustain this company as the #4 carrier in the U.S. anymore. Force DT to hold onto to it, and all I can imagine is rising costs which is going to drive people to the other carriers anyway.

    Nothing stays the same forever… gonna see what happens with this before getting all up in arms.

  • Guest

    Rising costs are what we T-mobile customers would face under AT&T, and we’d have one fewer option to choose from. AT&T and Verizon have been reducing how much service you get for your money, their plans are getting more draconian, and they’re relying on gadget geeks ‘needing’ the latest Android or Apple product to peddle their crappy service for thousands of dollars per year.

    The reason we don’t want to merge with Sprint is that they’re a poorly-run company that can’t seem to figure out how to run a railroad.

  • Guest

    Rising costs are what we T-mobile customers would face under AT&T, and we’d have one fewer option to choose from. AT&T and Verizon have been reducing how much service you get for your money, their plans are getting more draconian, and they’re relying on gadget geeks ‘needing’ the latest Android or Apple product to peddle their crappy service for thousands of dollars per year.

    The reason we don’t want to merge with Sprint is that they’re a poorly-run company that can’t seem to figure out how to run a railroad.

  • Guest

    Rising costs are what we T-mobile customers would face under AT&T, and we’d have one fewer option to choose from. AT&T and Verizon have been reducing how much service you get for your money, their plans are getting more draconian, and they’re relying on gadget geeks ‘needing’ the latest Android or Apple product to peddle their crappy service for thousands of dollars per year.

    The reason we don’t want to merge with Sprint is that they’re a poorly-run company that can’t seem to figure out how to run a railroad.

  • sprint user

    Thank goodness Sprint isn’t in the railroad business.

    Verizon still has the best network hands down.

    Tmo treated me like crap when I had them. There is a reason they are the cheapest.

    If you want stable secure and cutting edge, VZW. If you want value cutting edge and stable at a good price, Sprint.

    If you like to throw your money away on clever advertising and a shoddy network go with either of the GSM carriers. They have the cheapest to install and maintain cell sites in the industry and can’t create infrastructure for crap.

  • Tmo_User

    Regardless of the carrier you look at, someone has had issues with their service in one way or another. I dropped sprint because the one time I had an emergency and needed their service, I had none. I dropped at&t because of their crap service and bad customer service, verizon may suposedly be the best, but their prices are outlandish, and their customer service is good only if you’re a new customer.

    Tmo is the only one I’ve had no issues with so far, and I love the freedom of having the sim card. sim card is half the reason I’m with them. If I want to go on a bike ride, throw the sim card in an older slide phone that if it gets ruined a bit i dont care, have a business meeting, throw the sim card in a 4g phone that has internet, my calendar, etc.

    If at&t does acquire tmo they even said that all tmo customers would have to replace their phones because they still use slightly different technology.

    why encourage a monopoly ?

  • Drh3177

    I am a T-mobile customer. I have a smart phone which I purchased at full price. I want a smart phone because of the things I can do with a smart phone without having data. I don’t want data, and I don’t want to pay for a service that I don’t want. T-mobile allows me, if I paid full price for my phone, to have the service without data.

    AT&T and Verizon force data on you even if you won a the smart phone at full price and do not want data. This is no different than if you order a Shrimp dinner at a restaurant and you are told that you must also order a steak dinner if you want the shrimp dinner. This is called “tying” and is specifically prohibited under the Clayton Anti-Trust Act.

    I am happy that T-mobile acts within the law regarding the tying provisions of the Clayton Act. I don’t want to move to a carrier that forces me to have data service when all I want is phone service!

  • Lonsole

    I AM REALLY DISGUSTE WITH THE WAY T-MOBILE IS FORCING ME INTO TWO PLUS TWO MORE YEARS OF WHAT HAS BECOME…………..LOSY LOUSY SERVICE !!!

    LOUSYLOUSYLOUSY


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