Sprint gets poetic in AT&T opposition
By Paul R. La Monica @CNNMoneyTech May 31, 2011: 4:05 PM ET
This proposed takeover puts our mobile broadband future at a crossroads. We can choose the open, competitive road best traveled, and protect American consumers, innovation and our economy, or we can choose the dead end that merely protects only AT&T and leads the rest of us back down the dirt road to Ma Bell.
That's Vonya B. McCann, senior vice president of government affairs for Sprint, doing her best to channel Robert Frost. Sprint on Tuesday formally asked the FCC to deny AT&T's plan to acquire T-Mobile.
Sprint (S, Fortune 500) has much to gain from that merger not going through. As I wrote on Friday, the company is currently third in what's shaping up as a two-horse race in wireless. Some think Sprint's public stance against the T-Mobile deal is just an attempt to win some favorable concessions.
But Sprint is disputing that cynical claim. In a press release about its FCC filing Tuesday, Sprint said it has "concluded the proposed acquisition cannot be remedied through divestitures or conditions." Sprint, pulling no punches, also referred to AT&T (T, Fortune 500) and Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) as the "Twin Bell duopolists."
Sort of makes me wonder if AT&T and Verizon have powers like the Wonder Twins of "Super Friends" fame! Wonder Twin Bell powers ... activate! Form of ... an iPhone 4! Shape of ... a water bucket! And if I take this tortured analogy one step further, is T-Mobile the equivalent of Gleek, the annoying space monkey sidekick?
Anyway, Sprint may have a tough time stopping the marriage of AT&T with the house of Dwayne Wade and the polka dot dress-favoring spokesgirl. But this should be a fun battle to watch.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
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