Do you remember back in 2008 when Sprint and Clearwire announced intentions to merge? Can you guess who apposed it? Yep AT&T read the articles below. Well now that the tables are turned on them and Sprint's Dan Hesse has plans to appeal to congress to halt the AT&T-T-Mobile Deal. The combined entity would have “tremendous” power and AT&T and Verizon Wireless would hold 79% of the U.S. market if regulators approve the deal. Sprint will file its concerns to Congress during the review. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearings on the takeover. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, vowed to hold a hearing, saying in a statement that "Congress must take a close look at the plan to ensure that the proposed merger promotes a healthy and competitive telecommunications market." The committee will look into possible anticompetitive impacts, said Representative Lamar Smith (Twitter), a Texas Republican who heads the panel.
AT&T Looks to Block Sprint/Clearwire Merger
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is accusing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of playing favorites. The telco filed a complaint to the agency yesterday saying that Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) and Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR)'s proposed merger of assets should be subject to the same scrutiny it was given when it acquired Dobson Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: DCEL) last year. (See AT&T to Buy Dobson for $5.1B.)
AT&T opposes Sprint, Clearwire AT&T Inc., which has the largest wireless subscriber base in the country, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to deny a merger request from Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. AT&T claims it is all for competition and that it isn't against the principles of the Sprint/Clearwire merger. It says it's merely asking that the FCC show some consistency in the way it combs over the deal.
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