In a lovely “we told you so” moment, we can report that two key Federal agencies – both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) – are opposing the planned merger of AT and T and T-Mobile. We predicted Federal opposition to the merge when AT and T first announced their plans to takeover T-Mobile, and the Feds are opposing the merging for much the same reasons that we said that they would.
What we didn’t predict was just how vociferous would be their opposition.
In a 143-page report, the FCC blasts the proposal. In fact, even in the introductory remarks, the FCC says:
Whined Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s Senior Executive Vice President for External and Legislative Affairs, “The FCC has recognized that it is required by its own rules to dismiss our merger application. This makes all the more troubling their decision to nonetheless release a preliminary staff report on the merger. This report is not an order of the FCC and has never been voted on. It is simply a staff draft that raises questions of fact that were to be addressed in an administrative hearing, a hearing which will not now take place. It has no force or effect under law, which raises questions as to why the FCC would choose to release it. The draft report has also not been made available to AT&T prior to today, so we have had no opportunity to address or rebut its claims, which makes its release all the more improper.”
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AT&T has withdrawn its application to borg T-Mobile – for now. Once the law suit brought by the Justice Department to block the merger is over – and if AT&T wins – they intend to pursue the merger again.
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