AT&T’s points finger at the FCC for T-Mobiles recent closures, merger would have saved Them

Yesterday we had the unfortunate opportunity to share news that T-Mobile would be closing down 7 call centers around the nation. Being that one of the centers is located right here in Redmond where I live, it hit pretty hard. While our center only employees around 270 at the moment, it is going to be a big hit for them with an already stained job market. The news may not have been the best for T-Mobile and its employees, AT&T was sure quick to point the finger at the FCC for causing this unfortunate event. Their statement isn’t suggestive or coy at all. They straight up call out the FCC for the whole situation.

“Yesterday, T-Mobile made the sad announcement that it would be closing seven call centers, laying off thousands of workers, and that more layoff announcements may follow. Normally, we’d not comment on something like this. But I feel this is an exception for one big reason– only a few months ago AT&T promised to preserve these very same call centers and jobs if our merger was approved. We also predicted that if the merger failed, T-Mobile would be forced into major layoffs.”

That is only the first paragraph of what Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s Senior Executive Vice President of External and Legislative Affairs. He goes on to say the FCC told AT&T the merger would cost jobs, not preserve them and ignored the predictions AT&T made regarding layoffs and center closures. I hate to admit they were right, but they were. Anyone that has friends and families in any of these locations knew it was coming. While many thought it would happen with the merger, myself included, we will never know if AT&T would have done anything different. I still greatly enjoy seeing them standing up to the FCC and saying “Told you so.”

 

The following statement may be attributed to Jim Cicconi, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President of External and Legislative Affairs:

“Yesterday, T-Mobile made the sad announcement that it would be closing seven call centers, laying off thousands of workers, and that more layoff announcements may follow. Normally, we’d not comment on something like this. But I feel this is an exception for one big reason– only a few months ago AT&T promised to preserve these very same call centers and jobs if our merger was approved. We also predicted that if the merger failed, T-Mobile would be forced into major layoffs.

“At that time, the current FCC not only rejected our pledges and predictions, they also questioned our credibility. The FCC argued that the merger would cost jobs, not preserve them, and that rejecting it would save jobs. In short, the FCC said they were right, we were wrong, and did so in an aggressive and adamant way.

“Rarely are a regulatory agency’s predictive judgments proven so wrong so fast. But for the government’s decision, centers now being closed would be staying open, workers now facing layoffs would have job guarantees, and communities facing turmoil would have security. Only a few months later, the truth of who was right is sadly obvious.

“So what’s the lesson here? For one thing, it’s a reminder of why “regulatory humility” should be more than a slogan. The FCC may consider itself an expert agency on telecom, but it is not omniscient. And when it ventures far afield from technical issues, and into judgments about employment or predictions about business decisions, it has often been wildly wrong. The other lesson is even more important, and should be sobering. It is a reminder that in government, as in life, decisions have consequences. One must approach them not as an exercise of power but instead of responsibility, because, as I learned in my years of public service, the price of a bad decision is too often paid by someone else.”

Via AT&T