Washington state attorney general Rob McKenna has joined a federal anti-trust lawsuit to block the merger between AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile.
The attorney general argues that T-Mobile’s plans have typically cost less per month than comparable AT&T plans, and the merger raises “serious concerns” about higher prices for consumers. Furthermore, the high level of market concentration among Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane would become particularly uncompetitive.
McKenna’s office has analyzed that the merger would add 34 million customers to AT&T’s 96 million, “giving it a combined market share of 43 percent, well ahead Verizon’s 34 percent.”
“The merger would also give AT&T a monopoly over Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology, the most popular technology for American consumers and businesses that require that their phones work internationally. AT&T and T-Mobile are the only major carriers to utilize GSM. After the deal, small and regional cell providers of GSM technology would be forced to negotiate exclusively with AT&T to provide services to their customers.
McKenna, who is running for governor, has placed himself at odds with Microsoft, Facebook and Oracle who have come out in support of the merger. In the Puget Sound, the merger could cause job losses at T-Mobile’s Bellevue headquarters, which employs about 5,000 workers.
The case now moves forward with the combined legal firepower of the federal government and antitrust lawyers from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. [24×7]
Boring 787 Dreamliner Adds Android to Flight Plan
Boeing will integrate technology from Google and Microsoft in its next-generation 787 Dreamliner. The aerospace company has selected the Android operating system for in-flight entertainment on all 787 Dreamliners currently in production. The commercial aircraft giant also is using Microsoft’s technology to create a virtual tour of the next-generation Boeing 737 plane, using Kinect, Silverlight Deep Zoom, and Windows 7 Touch and Azure.
In what is being billed as an early commercial non-entertainment use of Kinect, the 737 project uses the technology behind Kinect motion controller for Xbox 360 to let a viewer move around and explore the 737.
Microsoft’s Case Study on the project can be read here. [24×7]
