AT&T, T-Mobile Merger: Judge considering shutting down antitrust trial

Last month, the FCC found that AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile it would result in stifled competition and potentially kill hundreds of jobs”, and it would ultimately be harmful to consumers.

Following the FCC’s move to block the merger, AT&T and T-Mobile formally withdrew their application to the FCC last month, but AT&T isn’t quite ready to give up just yet. They’re now taking the case to the Department of Justice, but it hasn’t gotten off to a particularly well start.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington recently scheduled a hearing on December 15 to determine whether or not to grant a stay on AT&T’s antitrust trial with the Department of Justice, or dismiss it entirely. Needles to say, neither option is great news for AT&T.

“We don’t have any confidence that we are spending all this time and effort and the taxpayers’ money and that we’re not being spun,” Huvelle said. “The landscape has changed,” she said, questioning whether or not the deal would even be able to be carried out before the contractual deadline.

Despite the latest setback, AT&T’s lawyers are holding their ground, demanding that they get their “day in court.” AT&T lawyers insist that if they’re able to win over the Department of Justice, there’s a chance that the FCC will allow the merger to continue.

Source: Bloomberg

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