WFU opposes the proposed buyout of T-Mobile by AT&T. “Wisconsin Farmers Union does not believe that an AT&T/T-Mobile merger will at all benefit a substantial portion of our membership who live in rural communities and may, in fact, result in even less wireless options for rural residents, “ said WFU President Darin Von Ruden.

 

“It seems clear that the overall motivation of AT&T is to further reduce market competition, not to expand high-speed internet coverage in rural areas,” said Von Ruden. “If expansion was the primary motivator, the merger shouldn’t be necessary because AT&T already holds network spectrum covering 80% of the U.S. population. AT&T claims that the merger will enable them to reach 97% of the population. There are two things that appear misleading about this. First, is that the estimated cost of expansion to 97% is $3.8 billion. The cost of the T-Mobile buyout is $39 billion. A buyout, then, doesn’t seem very cost effective.”

 

“The other misleading part of this is that the 97% coverage they are talking about is just population. Not area. So we are suspect that AT&T would be motivated to expand in less densely populated areas. There isn’t much of a financial incentive to do so when they would already own almost 50% of the country’s market.”

 

“Don’t get us wrong. WFU understands that our rural residents need better wireless coverage. But we think this deal will only lead to putting small providers that do serve our rural communities out of business, leaving an already underserved population without access.”

 

“If this merger goes through, AT&T and Verizon will dominate 80% of the wireless market, creating a virtual duopoly. The remaining major provider would be Sprint, with only a 20% market share. It’s been difficult enough getting broad rural coverage having only four major players. Wisconsin Farmers Union does not see how things will improve for rural coverage when we’re down to three. We suspect this proposed merger will only deliver empty promises.”