Whoa - DOJ suing to block AT&T - T Mobile merger

[oxcoug]

Thoughts on this?

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/08/31/obama-administration-sues-to-block-att-t-mobile-merger/

[falafel]

Good for Sprint!

[wuapinmon]

Can AT&T pick up the bankruptcy assets five years from now if this gets blocked?

[All-American]

T-Mobile has been a particularly good example of the benefits of competition. I was working at a Cell Phone Office at BYU when text messages went from 15 cents per message down to pennies. T-Mobile was the driving force behind the price of text messaging plummeting.

I was suspicious of the merger when I first saw that they were going to try it. It's already a market which by nature is going to be dominated by just a few national companies. It doesn't surprise me in the least that the DOJ is going to try to block it now.

[Uncle Ted]

Didn't AT&T give a (multi-)billion dollar insurance to T-Mobile that this deal was going to happen? If AT&T and T-Mobile don't merge then AT&T could be out some major money.

Edit: Yes, AT&T promised T-Mobile $3B in cash if the merger didn't get done.

[pellegrino]

this is a very good thing. I'm in favor of the government encouraging competition.

[Green Monstah]

With all the prepaids and month-to-month providers out there, does this really create competition risks? I don't know where the line is drawn in anti-trust legislation, but this seems a little suspect to me.

[Green Monstah]

Didn't AT&T give a (multi-)billion dollar insurance to T-Mobile that this deal was going to happen? If AT&T and T-Mobile don't merge then AT&T could be out some major money.

Edit: Yes, AT&T promised T-Mobile $3B in cash if the merger didn't get done.

They also offerred up far more valuable spectrum (worth up to 2.5x the $3B).

[falafel]

With all the prepaids and month-to-month providers out there, does this really create competition risks? I don't know where the line is drawn in anti-trust legislation, but this seems a little suspect to me.

It does when you consider that the big mobile companies actually own most of the prepaids.

[Paperback Writer]

They also offerred up far more valuable spectrum (worth up to 2.5x the $3B).

The merger was mostly about spectrum acquisition that AT&T could really use.

Politically, I think this could cause some political damage to the Obama administration. The White House will spin it as the government standing up for the little guy and protecting consumer rights.

However, AT&T is getting ready to spin this as job creation and investment in American infrastructure. They have publically stated that the merger would immeidately bring 5K call center jobs back to America that are currently off-shored. And are throwing around a future infrastrucure investment of $8 billion that will produce 96K new jobs.

AT&T will counter the consumer right issue by stating that the merger would have resulted in higher speed broadband to 55 million Americans. The company will offset the monopoly issue by stating that it would place T-Moblie into American hands since T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom.

Anyway, just stating what I think is about to unfold and that AT&T will accuse the Obama administration with being anti-job and anti-infrastructure investment; something the White House is vunerable to.

As someone directly affected, I'm caught between what's best for my employer, not having to work a lot of unpaid overtime to ready for the merger, possibly having my own job "surplussed" during the integration, or possibly being "surplussed" years later because the merger didn't go through.

[TripletDaddy]

I just received a text from AT&T telling me that I am a valued customer. They are offering me 1000 free rollover minutes simply by responding "yes."

Did anyone else get this text?

[Green Monstah]

ATT calls off talks.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...tworks-general

[Paperback Writer]

ATT calls off talks.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...tworks-general

Will be interesting to see who picks up the crumbs when T-Mobile goes belly up. T-Mobile needed this merger worse than AT&T although AT&T really could have used the sprectrum. On the bright side, my project load was cut in half.

[Pelado]

However, AT&T is getting ready to spin this as job creation and investment in American infrastructure. They have publically stated that the merger would immeidately bring 5K call center jobs back to America that are currently off-shored. And are throwing around a future infrastrucure investment of $8 billion that will produce 96K new jobs.

AT&T will counter the consumer right issue by stating that the merger would have resulted in higher speed broadband to 55 million Americans. The company will offset the monopoly issue by stating that it would place T-Moblie into American hands since T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom.

The actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to block this transaction do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry. It is one of the most fiercely competitive industries in the world, with a mounting need for more spectrum that has not diminished and must be addressed immediately. The AT&T and T-Mobile USA combination would have offered an interim solution to this spectrum shortage. In the absence of such steps, customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled...

“To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest,” Stephenson said. “However, adding capacity to meet these needs will require policymakers to do two things. First, in the near term, they should allow the free markets to work so that additional spectrum is available to meet the immediate needs of the U.S. wireless industry, including expeditiously approving our acquisition of unused Qualcomm spectrum currently pending before the FCC. Second, policymakers should enact legislation to meet our nation’s longer-term spectrum needs.

Thanks for the advance of the press release.