Communications Workers of America believe that the sale of spectrum from a consortium of large cable companies to Verizon and the mutual cooperation agreement that goes with it is a job killer and is taking its fight to the airwaves.
CWA says the deal is a three-time loser – suggesting it will cause higher prices for consumers, destroy jobs and decrease competition.
It has placed the ad on the Sunday 8/12/12 edition of CBS’s Face the Nation, and is also airing the ads in Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, Pittsburgh PA and Richmond VA.
The campaign, which kicks off 8/9/12, follows a similar flight that began a day earlier in New York markets including Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Utica and Watertown, and will also run on cable in New York City.”
“Behind closed doors, Verizon and the big cable companies have cooked up a monopoly deal that would raise prices and kill jobs…The Federal Communications Commission should act in the public interest, not corporate special interests. Call the FCC today.”
RBR-TVBR observation: One of the issues that has opponents of this deal exercised is the fact that Verizon was supposed to be entering the MVPD business as a competitor to cable and satellite, a development that expected to increase consumer choice and lead to improved service and pricing through competition.
Problem one is that if Verizon and the cable companies are cooperating with one another, they aren’t providing that competition to the best of their abilities.
Problem two is that Verizon could be relieved of its need to fully build out its MVPD systems. This was a big deal when Congress was holding hearings about allowing telcos to move into the MVPD business in the first place. Some were suspicious that the telcos would service well-monied neighborhoods first and not get to other less-well-to-do neighborhoods at all. Opponents think they may be seeing that suspicion come true.
