Verizon, Comcast Defend Spectrum-Purchase Plan
WASHINGTON—Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. executives defended Verizon’s proposal to buy airwaves from cable companies for $3.6 billion, arguing at a Senate hearing Wednesday that it wouldn’t hurt competition and would improve Verizon’s wireless service.
“It’s critical that this previously unused spectrum be put to good use,” Randall Milch, executive vice president of Verizon Communications, said during a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Consumers in some markets could begin experiencing capacity problems by 2013 if Verizon doesn’t acquire more airwaves soon, he said.
