Sprint CEO Dan Hesse Addresses Negative Impact Proposed AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Will Have on Consumers, Innovation and the Economy

Sprint Nextel S CEO Dan Hesse testified today before members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, voicing opposition to the proposed takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T. In his testimony, Hesse contrasted the current vibrant competitive wireless industry which benefits the American consumer against a vision of what would result from recreating a 1980s-style duopoly. “The wireless industry thrives on competition, which, in turn, drives investment, innovation, consumer choice, job creation and U.S. global leadership in wireless communications,” said Mr. Hesse. “If AT&T is permitted to devour one of the two remaining independent national wireless carriers, while the rest of the world achieves advances in technology and innovation for the 21st century, the U.S. will go backwards – toward last century's Ma Bell.”