The Communications Workers of America reiterated its position that the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile (News - Alert) is good for both consumers and American workers. The workers union recently shared their comments with the California Public Utilities Commission on the proposed merger between AT&T (News - Alert) and T-Mobile.

The California PUC is conducting an advisory review of the proposed merger, the purpose of which is to inform the Federal Communications Commission.

According to the association, the merger will expand high-speed broadband buildout, benefiting the one-third of California households who do not have a home broadband connection, while increasing speeds for another one third of Californians.

The merger between AT&T and T-Mobile will create additional jobs. AT&T will increase capital expenditures by $8 billion in the next seven years, which are expected to create 96,000 jobs across America.

The proposed merger will also benefit workers in the wireless industry as AT&T is the only wireless company with a unionized workforce.

“What we are telling the PUC today is this: At the end of the day, an AT&T/T-Mobile merger will accelerate high-speed broadband buildout to more Californians, it will positively impact consumers and it will create jobs,” said James Weitkamp, VP of CWA (News - Alert) District 9, in a statement.

CWA District 9 represents 58,000 workers in California, including more than 23,000 at AT&T.

The merger is also expected to substantially ease network congestion, resulting in fewer dropped calls and faster connection speeds throughout the country.

This merger will allow AT&T to offer 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE (News - Alert)) service to 55 million more Americans. According to a 2010 report, as part of CWA’s Speed Matters campaign, only 16.6 percent of broadband subscribers in California currently connect to the Internet at such speeds.

In related news, AT&T Interactive announced the launch of in-app ads on its mobile local ad network, an extension of the company's premier YP Local Ad Network. The new capabilities offer participating mobile publishers an enhanced way to generate revenue due to the local relevancy of the ads - and also help advertisers increase potential reach.