ORLANDO, FL ? In the wake of AT&T Inc.?s $39 billion bid to acquire T-Mobile USA, T-Mobile?s top executive bowed out of the CTIA Wireless 2011 opening keynote. CNBC?s Jim Cramer did interrogate the CEOs of the big three United States carriers about the pending deal.

Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, was a surprise speaker. Steve Largent, president/CEO of CTIA?The Wireless Association, gave a show of support to CTIA member and exhibitor NTT DoCoMo Inc., and asked the audience to text REDCROSS to 90999 to support Japan with a $10 donation.

?I was on a plane when I was made aware of certain news in the wireless world,? Mr. Largent said.

Executive roundtable
While Mr. Genachowski and Mr. Largent both declined to comment on the AT&T/T-Mobile news, Mr. Cramer, host of ?Mad Money? on CNBC, was eager to discuss the story as he moderated a panel of the top executives of AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp.

The television host began with an ice-breaker.

?I feel like there?s an elephant in the room,? Mr. Cramer said. ?Do you guys hate each other??

Even though Philip Humm, president/CEO of T-Mobile USA, pulled out of the panel at the last minute, Mr. Cramer obviously felt free to address the elephant in room, and he did so repeatedly.

Mr. Cramer asked Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp., what he thought of the potential AT&T/T-Mobile deal.

?My opinion doesn?t matter?what matters is the opinion of the FCC and DOJ [Department of Justice],? Mr. Hesse said. ?I am concerned about the stifling of innovation from more consolidation in the industry.

?If that transaction is allowed to proceed, two companies would control 79 percent of the [U.S.] market share,? he said. ?I do have concerns that it could stifle innovation if too much power is concentrated in the hands of just two carriers.?

With Mr. Hesse and Mr. Genachowski both having sounded the call for more spectrum to enable wider access to mobile broadband, Mr. Cramer picked up the thread and turned it towards the potential acquisition, asking if spectrum was a factor in AT&T?s sizeable bid for its rival.

?In terms of the Sunday event with T-Mobile, one of the main drivers was the need for additional spectrum,? said Ralph de la Vega, president/CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets at AT&T Inc.

?Data usage has grown 8,000 percent over four years and will grow 8-10X over the next four years,? he said. ?[The acquisition] would help us to more efficiently utilize that spectrum.

?Mobile video communications will be the next big wave.?

Mr. Cramer read the headline of a New York Times article: ?For Consumers, Little to Cheer in AT&T Deal.? He then asked the executives their take on that opinion of the takeover bid.

?False,? Mr. de la Vega said. He went on to list the potential benefits of the deal, including better mobile broadband coverage for AT&T/T-Mobile customers.

On the other hand, Sprint?s Mr. Hesse said that he agreed with the thrust of the New York Times headline, and left it at that.

Dan Mead, president/CEO of Verizon Wireless, was not let off the hook. Mr. Cramer, a Verizon Wireless customer, asked Mr. Mead why his mobile phone bill was so high each month. He then asked if Verizon had considered acquiring T-Mobile.

?We didn?t think through acquiring T-Mobile,? Mr. Mead said. ?We didn?t think there was a need.?
 
Mr. Cramer also asked Mr. Mead about unlimited data plans versus a tiered model. He asked why he should have to pay the same monthly rate as data hogs, that is, heavy data-users.

The Verizon executive was non-committal about whether or not he would consider going to a tiered data plan model.

?Unlimited data plans are very important for data adoption as smartphones have enabled that on the networks,? Mr. Mead said. ?The industry is looking at the question of should there be caps, should there be metered billing more like your water bill where you pay for what you use.

?It is something that we?re monitoring,? he said.

Mr. Cramer moderating the carrier executive panel

Mr. Hesse

Mr. Genachowski

Final Take
Mad mobile