FCC Still Reviewing AT&T’s T-Mobil Deal After Justice Makes Antitrust Move
By Todd Shields Bloomberg News Aug 31, 2011 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-08-31/fcc-review-of-at-t-deal-continues-as-agency-cites-own-concerns.html The Federal Communications Commission said it was continuing its review of AT&T Inc.’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. after antitrust regulators sued to block the deal. “The record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in an e-mail today. The agency’s process “is not complete,” he said. The Justice Department in a complaint filed today in federal court in Washington sought a declaration that Dallas- based AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate U.S. antitrust law. The government asked for a court order blocking implementation of the deal. The FCC has never approved a significant merger being challenged in court by the Justice Department, said an FCC official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agency’s review isn’t concluded. The FCC is on the 88th day of a review that is to take 180 days, according to the agency’s website. The agency can stop and restart its informal 180-day clock, and did so between July 20 and Aug. 26 as it awaited more data from AT&T. AT&T intends to “vigorously contest” the Justice Department’s move in court, Wayne Watts, the company’s general counsel, said in an e-mail today. _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
