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About the only people who think that the AT&T purchase of T-Mobile is a good idea is probably AT&T, T-Mobile board members and the lawyers involved; because when it comes to the rest of the world there isn’t any enthusiasm for the proposed deal at all.
Even the normally passive and industry-friendly FCC seems to be having a hard time swallowing all the ridiculous verbiage coming out of AT&T as they try to get the FCC to love the deal just a little bit. It seems that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is asking the agency commissioners to take a deep look at the whole deal, and calling for a public hearing into the whole thing.
As Tom Krazit from Paid Content reports,
During a media call Tuesday afternoon FCC representatives (who insisted on remaining anonymous) said that Chairman Julius Genachowski has asked fellow commissioners to review a proposal that the merger be subject to a hearing after finding aspects of the proposed deal that don’t line up with the public interest. One representative called the merger a unique concentration in market power in almost every single one of the top 100 local markets in the U.S., and also said that AT&T’s claims that the merger will allow more Americans access to 4G wireless (AT&T’s primary selling point) and create new jobs did not hold water.
Of course having a public hearing on the deal would mean having to wait for the trial with the Department of Justice regarding the proposed merger is over. Since this isn’t likely to happen until at least February of next year it would mean the public hearing would be a long way off, and even then AT&T can’t be sure they would get FCC approval.
One can only hope that either the DoJ trial puts the kibosh on the deal or that the FCC gives it thumbs down; or AT&T and T-Mobile decide enough is enough and go their separate ways.
