CNET) Executives from the nation's largest phone companies went to Capitol Hill Tuesday to defend themselves against allegations that they've been fixing prices on text messaging. Executives from AT&T and Verizon Communications testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, saying their companies have not been involved in a conspiracy to hike text messaging rates. And they argued that competition is alive and well in the wireless market. The hearing was called in response to a letter sent in September from Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) to the four major U.S. operators - Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA - asking them to explain why their text rates had all increased to 20 cents per message. Kohl noted in his letter that these rates marked a 100 percent increase since 2005. Shortly after the letter was sent, about 37 separate class action lawsuits were filed against wireless operators alleging price-fixing on text-messaging services. Both AT&T and Verizon have denied these claims. And the companies came to Capitol Hill to clear their names. "Especially in light of this litigation firestorm, we want to make it perfectly clear that AT&T sets the prices for all of its products on a unilateral basis," said Wayne Watts, general counsel for AT&T, in his written testimony. "There is no evidence to support an accusation that anyone at AT&T engaged in any inappropriate, much less illegal, behavior as alleged in these lawsuits." read more
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