The expected merger of AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA may have a new opponent, in addition to competitor Sprint Nextel. The chair of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), has gone on the record saying that the merger would mean higher prices for consumers, less competition and less choice for people in the marketplace.

Kohl's opposition stems from the estimate that two carriers, the combined AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon, would have around eighty percent of the American mobile phone market if the merger took place.

The senator has said that there is real doubt as to whether Sprint Nextel would survive if it had to compete with two mobile phone superpowers.

San Diego mergers and acquisitions attorneys have noted that Kohl has not been alone in opposing the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Three U.S. House members, John Conyers of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, as well as Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Anna Eshoo of California, both key members of House Commerce Committee, have sent letters to the FCC and the Justice Department expressing concerns about the merger. They have stopped short, though, of saying the merger should simply be blocked.

Not surprisingly, AT&T and T-Mobile say that the fears about the merger are unfounded. They point out that a merged entity would be able to provide coverage over more than ninety-five percent of the country, and they claim that the merged company's service would result in fewer dropped calls.

Source: USA Today "Key senator opposes AT&T, T-Mobile merger" 7/21/2011