“AT&T Inc. said that its proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. would lower prices and increase service in large metropolitan markets, according to a regulatory filing touting the public benefits of the deal,” Eric Engleman reports for Bloomberg.
“The transaction proposed March 20 ‘will relieve significant capacity restraints faced by both companies and lead to improved service quality,’ according to a letter submitted yesterday by AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission,” Engleman reports. “The letter accompanied an analysis of the deal’s potential impact on 15 U.S. markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Washington.”
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Engleman reports, “If completed, the merger, which was proposed March 20, would combine the second- and fourth-largest carriers to create a new market leader, ahead of current No. 1 Verizon Wireless. The FCC and the Justice Department are vetting the deal.”
“Concerns are building among some U.S. lawmakers that the deal may harm wireless competition. Senator Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust matters, opposes the transaction, saying it would further consolidate an ‘already highly concentrated market’ in a letter sent July 20 to Attorney General Eric Holder and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski,” Engleman reports. “In a separate letter sent July 20 to Holder and Genachowski, Democratic Representatives Edward Markey of Massachusetts, John Conyers of Michigan and Anna Eshoo of California said the deal ‘raises serious questions regarding the future competitiveness of the wireless industry.'”
Read more in the full article here.
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