In this June 18, 2014, file photo, Jeffrey Bewkes, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner, attends the Cannes Lions 2014, 61st International Advertising Festival in Cannes, southern France. The CEOs of AT&T and Time Warner are heading to Capitol Hill in a bid to convince senators that a merger of their two companies will mean innovative new experiences for consumers. The CEOs, Randall Stephenson of AT&T and Bewkes of Time Warner, are due to appear Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, before a Senate antitrust panel whose Republican chairman and senior Democrat have said the proposed $85.4 billion merger of the communications giants would potentially raise significant antitrust issues. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File) The CEOs of AT&T and Time Warner are telling Congress that the merger of the two media and communications giants will benefit Americans and boost competition in cable, rather than quash it.
The skeptical head of the Senate antitrust panel examining the proposed $85.4 billion deal says the tie-up could restrain competition.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said Wednesday in prepared testimony that, "Together, AT&T and Time Warner will disrupt the entrenched pay-TV models, giving customers more options, creating more competition for cable TV providers and accelerating deployment of 5G wireless broadband."
Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes are making their case before the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, saying that the deal will lead to new innovation, and that it will better serve consumers.
In this March 30, 2011 file photo, Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York. The CEOs of AT&T and Time Warner are heading to Capitol Hill in a bid to convince senators that a merger of their two companies will mean innovative new experiences for consumers. The CEOs, Stephenson of AT&T and Jeffrey Bewkes of Time Warner, are due to appear Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, before a Senate antitrust panel whose Republican chairman and senior Democrat have said the proposed $85.4 billion merger of the communications giants would potentially raise significant antitrust issues. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) 
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