Last month, AT&T offered $39 billion to purchase T-Mobile from its German parent company Deutsche Telekom. The deal is reviewed by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, which could take up to a year to approve. The merger would create the largest wireless service provider in the country. Verizon is currently the biggest in that field.
AT&T spokesman Tom Hopkins said the merger would allow the company to expand its high speed 4G wireless service into more of Iowa, including the Cedar Valley.
"Once this merger is complete, we're committed to bringing that capability into Waterloo," Hopkins said.
Company officials are pushing the benefits of the plan ahead of a hearing next week by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is a member.
The T-Mobile phone service had been on the selling block for months prior to AT&T's offer. The two companies share similar technology and wireless frequencies, which make it easier to combine forces, said Beth Knutson, a company spokeswoman.
That's important to the company because dramatic spikes in wireless data use like mobile Internet applications, Knutson said.
"It's a huge hockey-stick curve," she said.
However, consumer advocates and other wireless providers have warned that the merger would curb competition, one of the reasons why the FCC and Justice Department will take longer to approve the merger. Sprint Nextel has urged other states, including West Virginia and Missouri, and federal regulators to reject the deal.
Hopkins argued that there would still be at least six wireless companies in Iowa.
Steve Dust, CEO of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance, said the merger could help small businesses and rural areas expand because they'd have access to mobile broadband and high-speed Internet.
He said the wireless carrier could complement high speed access provided by Cedar Falls Utilities and Mediacom. It also fits with targeted sectors for the region, such as advanced manufacturing, integrated software development and information technology.
"The merger is a step toward giving them the ability to deploy in our area the technology we need for economic growth," Dust said.
