AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson told Congress his company’s planned $85.4 billion purchase of HBO and CNN owner Time Warner will help the telecommunications provider challenge cable companies for customers.
The deal also may hasten AT&T’s development of faster 5G wireless service to deliver its newly acquired video content, Stephenson said in testimony submitted to the US Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee for a hearing Wednesday.
“Together, AT&T and Time Warner will disrupt the entrenched pay-TV models,” said Stephenson, whose company serves 133 million US wireless customers and 25 million video subscribers. Consumers want to “watch their favorite video content anytime, anywhere,” Stephenson said.
Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes said in his submitted testimony that the combination will allow faster moves toward new channel packages delivered over the internet.
The deal needs to be carefully reviewed and possibly blocked because it poses a danger of harming competition, leading to higher costs and fewer choices for video services, Gene Kimmelman, a former antitrust regulator who is president of the policy group Public Knowledge, said in submitted testimony.
Full Content: Bloomberg
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
ADM CFO Resigns Amidst DOJ Investigation into Accounting Issues
Apr 23, 2024 by
CPI
FTC Throws the Bag: Tapestry’s Capri Deal Blocked Over Market Monopoly Concerns
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Italy’s Antitrust Authority Investigates Enel’s Communication of Energy Price Hikes
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
UK Data Regulator Uncovers Flaws in Google’s Privacy Sandbox Proposal
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Japan’s Antitrust Body Orders Google to Amend Ad Search Practices
Apr 22, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI