Deutsche Telekom chief calls FCC to push against Verizon-cable deal

René Obermann, the German CEO of international telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, called Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski last week and urged him to block Verizon's proposed deal with a group of cable companies.

Deutsche Telekom owns T-Mobile, which is lobbying against the deal.

Verizon agreed to buy blocks of wireless frequencies, known as spectrum, from Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Bright House. The companies also agreed to cross-sell one another's services. 

According to a filing with the FCC, Obermann argued the deal will give Verizon, which is already the nation's largest wireless carrier, access to even more spectrum and will close off its competitors' access to the valuable resource.

Verizon argues that it is one of the most efficient companies in its use of spectrum and that the deal will allow it to better serve its millions of customers.

Obermann also thanked Genachowski for the commission promptly granting a transfer of spectrum from AT&T to T-Mobile. 

AT&T had promised to give T-Mobile about $1 billion in spectrum if their planned merger collapsed. Opposition from the Justice Department and the FCC forced the companies to abandon their deal in December.

Obermann said the spectrum from AT&T is a "critical but insufficient catalyst" for T-Mobile to build its high-speed 4G LTE network.

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