NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] AT&T/T-Mobile withdraw merger application at FCC -- "temporarily"
AT&T/T-Mobile withdraw merger application at FCC -- "temporarily"
http://j.mp/bnieNq (ars technica)
AT&T will also take a pretax charge of $4 billion dollars in the
fourth quarter of this year-a move which accounts for the "breakup
fee" it owes Deutsche Telekom if the deal falls apart. Public
Knowledge's Gigi Sohn, who has opposed the merger from the start, said
today in a statement that "the chances that AT&T will take over
T-Mobile are almost gone.... AT&T's move will, for the moment, prevent
the FCC from making public its many, well-documented findings that the
deal is not in the public interest and will prevent the judge
overseeing the antitrust lawsuit from seeing the FCC's conclusions.
Those findings would be the subject of the large and complex
administrative hearing and process that AT&T would still need to
survive in order to complete the $39 billion transaction."
- - -
"Maybe nobody will notice if we do this on Thanksgiving!"
If the merger falls apart completely now, will they (a) try again later
perhaps with a different administration? (b) try to get Congress to
step in? (c) demand back the payoff money AT&T has been using to try
bribe groups into supporting the merger? (d) report failure to
Lord Vader and throw themselves at his mercy?
Seriously, the big question is, what would the Germans do with
T-Mobile USA sans the merger?
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com