“Antitrust officials may have a hard time buying AT&T’s argument<br />that it will expand broadband competition and not seek to harm competitors if they find the company is actively working to block new broadband players from entering the markets AT&T already dominates,” said Gene Kimmelman, the president of Public Knowledge, a consumer group, and a former senior antitrust official at the Justice Department, who opposes the merger.<br />In a Senate hearing in December, AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, said AT&T<br />and Time Warner together could bring new competition to “big cable.”<br />“Cable still enjoys key advantages in the marketplace,” such as its dominance in cable television and broadband, Mr. Stephenson said at the hearing.<br />“AT&T consistently supports a legislative agenda that would eliminate consumer choice and deny competitors the ability to invest in broadband<br />that could bring more choice,” said Todd O’Boyle, a director of Common Cause, a consumer group that supports municipal broadband networks.
