Last Friday the U.S. Department of Justice announced that seven state attorneys general jumped on the bandwagon to appose the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA.
The attorneys general representing California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington joined the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit to prevent the acquisition. The amended complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
It's nice to know that Sprint has some valuable backing power within this lawsuit, and they commend the group for doing so. The $39 billion merger would not only upset many consumers and violate the antitrust law, but would also harm the nations economy and take away thousands of American jobs.
The rapidly growing force of opposition has left AT&T in a bit of a quandary, forcing them to search for more supporters in order to save the deal from its impending doom.
How do you feel about the proposition? Leave your comments in the field below.
Full press release after the break.
16 September 2011
Sprint Statement on State Attorneys General Decision to Join U.S. Justice Department Lawsuit to Block AT&T’s Proposed Takeover of T-Mobile
WASHINGTON (BUSINESS WIRE), September 16, 2011 – This afternoon, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that seven state attorneys general representing California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington joined the department’s lawsuit against AT&T, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom. The Justice Department filed its amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Vonya McCann, Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) senior vice president for Government Affairs, issued the following statement:
“After a comprehensive review of the facts related to AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile, seven state attorneys general have reached the same conclusion as the U.S. Department of Justice: This proposed takeover violates antitrust law and would harm consumers, competition and our nation’s economy. This is a strong stand for American consumers, and Sprint commends this bipartisan group of state attorneys general for joining with the U.S. Justice Department to protect consumers, competition and American jobs.”
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 52 million customers at the end of 2Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
Contact(s):
| Sprint Nextel Media Contact: John Taylor, 571-437-4685 john.b.taylor@sprint.com or Investor Contact: Yijing Brentano, 800-259-3755 investor.relations@sprint.com |
I knew that was coming… Attorneys General IS the correct way to spell it when refering in the plural. I triple checked!
Cut the newbie some slack ;-)
@Johnny: Where’s the mistake?
I too oppose this merger. ATT is only thinking about the monopoly they’ll be running and pocketing big bucks. It’s sad to see how far our society has gone. If ATT truly cared about its consumers, it would’ve spent that 39 billion on its infrastruction and to better its customer service. Instead it’s going after eliminating competition. A good athlete would work hard and better him/herself to beat it’s competition not purchase a gun and shoot the oppoenent. This is sad and shameful indeed. I’ve already switched from ATT to Sprint and I love the service and the reasonable plans.
Wtf? Writers: learn to spell. Editors: learn to edit.
I’m from Ohio myself, those states listed are Verizon dominate, they are more rural areas, newyork included outside the city. I wonder if Verizon’s long reach to rural areas has something to do with this.. hmm
It would be such a bad deal for consumers… I thought there was no chance of stopping it. This is very encouraging.