OVERNIGHT TECH: House tackles AT&T/T-Mobile merger

THE LEDE: The House Judiciary’s Competition subcommittee will get its chance Thursday
to question the leaders of AT&T and T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom on the proposed $39
billion acquisition and the potential impact on consumers.  

Full committee ranking member Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)
and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) went further than any member thus far
in voicing
concern about the merger at a Wednesday press conference where the pair
aired concerns about job losses and higher mobile phone bills as a
result of the merger. AT&T disputes that the deal, which would
leave it and Verizon as the leading wireless providers and Sprint a
distant third, will lead to higher mobile phone prices.

AT&T’s message: According
to testimony obtained by The Hill, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will
repeat several of his talking points from the Senate hearing and
position the merger as all about consumers and innovation. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann will testify that T-Mobile USA has an increasingly difficult time competing. He will argue firm is focused much more on its European business and would be unlikely to be able to invest more in its U.S. network even if more spectrum were available.

Franken wants privacy policies for all smartphone apps: Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote to Apple and Google on Wednesday asking them to require that all applications on their respective smartphone platforms come with clear and understandable privacy policies. In the letter he argues that at a minimum apps that collect and share user location data should be required to explain how they use that information. 

Franken first raised the issue at a Senate Judiciary Privacy subpanel hearing on mobile privacy earlier this month; the Senate is likely to take up consumer privacy legislation in the near future.

House and Senate set for standoff over public safety network: Lawmakers are preparing for a showdown between the
chambers on the question of how to build a communications network for
police and firefighters, a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission
that has not been realized. After months of politicking on the
issue, it’s clear that the battle won’t be fought along party lines but
rather in a standoff between the House and Senate. The main issue is whether to allocate the valuable D Block of spectrum to first responders.

GOP questions White House cybersecurity plan: House Republicans voiced doubts about the White House’s plan to give the Department of Homeland Security operational control over the cybersecurity of private-sector firms deemed critical infrastructure at hearing in front of the House Judiciary Intellectual Property subpanel on Wednesday. The Obama administration is the first to issue detailed legislative
language on cybersecurity.

House Judiciary Committee Intellectual Property subpanel Chairman Bob
Goodlatte (R-Va.) argued the White House plan mandates technical
standards that critical infrastructure firms would have to comply with. Goodlatte
said he is concerned that the secretary of Homeland Security would have
too much sway over which firms are subject to the government’s
standards.

Administration officials pushed back against that characterization, arguing the administration has taken great pains to avoid mandating technical standards. They argue the White House plan would give industry a large say in helping determine the appropriate performance measures and firms would be left to decide for themselves how their security plans would comply with the new laws.

Republicans want details on FCC’s investigation of Google “Wi-Spy” incident: Rep.
Tom Graves (R-Ga.) wrote to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday urging him to release information about
its investigation of Google’s so-called “Wi-Spy” breach. The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced last year that it was
investigating the breach, but has yet to unveil any findings. Google has previously apologized for collecting the private data of thousands of Internet
users from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.