AT&T Exec Says Company is Not Walking Away From T-Mobile Deal
AT&T Exec Says Company is Not Walking Away From T-Mobile Deal
Posted 12/07/2011 at 3:57pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens sounded defiant today at a media conference in New York. Stephens made it clear that AT&T was going to move ahead with the deal to buy T-Mobile US despite the heavy opposition in regulatory circles. Easier said than done, though. Both the Justice Department and FCC have come out against the deal, and AT&T has not been a terribly good sport thus far.
The Justice Department filed suit last month to block the $39 billion deal, and the FCC announced official hearings recently. Both groups claim that the merger would hinder competition in the wireless market, and kill jobs. AT&T made the call to withdraw its FCC application in order to focus on the DOJ suit. The carrier had harsh words after the FCC released its preliminary opinion of the deal in a scathing 100+ page report.
Egos are bruised, and that’s a recipe for disaster in delicate situations like this. Stephens says that AT&T has the resources to close the deal, but it’s not clear if they some magic bullet strategy to gain regulatory approval. Do you think AT&T is going to succeed?
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bling581
December 08, 2011 at 11:09am
Same thing I've been saying all along, but I think this merger has become such a huge deal that the people at the FCC are probably hesitant to accept any bribes. With enough money though anything is possible.
livebriand
December 07, 2011 at 9:59pm
Instead of wasting all this money hurting competition and jobs, how about spending it to improve your own damn infrastructure? Now THAT would create some jobs AND make your customers happy at the same time.
xs0u1x
December 08, 2011 at 6:28am
there are a couple problems with your solution here:
1.) it makes sense
2.) that does not raise the bottom line
3.) it makes sense
bling581
December 08, 2011 at 11:13am
Yeah, why do what's right and what makes sense when they have the option to eliminate competition? Hasn't it already been proven that even though Verizon has (or had) less spectrum than AT&T they have a more reliable network? I'm not big on cell phone technology but from what I understand it's not all about spectrum but also about how many towers they have setup for coverage. To expand their network and infrastructure they'd have to spend money they could be throwing at shutting out competition!
Trekker1091
December 07, 2011 at 4:45pm
Might I ask where exactly "Hey York is" Never heard of that place before, LOL! Don't worry, I knew you meant New York anyway, lol.
Holly Golightly
December 07, 2011 at 6:42pm
LOL, in Russian, the letter н means the N in English. So to say say неw york with a Russian accent is 100% correct. Although the real correct way is Нью Иорк.
Back to the subject, I feel that AT&T is beating a dead horse and should count their losses before they make it worse for themselves. The deal is not going through and AT&T knows that the customers will lose if this merger goes through. We need more jobs, not less jobs. So two companies are always better than one. I say, let AT&T drown in their badly beaten ego. Last I heard, they have the least overall customer satisfaction.
philipa25
December 07, 2011 at 6:55pm
Well, if they get the deal through they will move up a spot...
Marthian
December 07, 2011 at 10:16pm
and what's the point of moving up a spot when you are last place? being last place is a terrible title, no number, be it 10th or 5267984th will make it any better.
Phrish
December 07, 2011 at 4:04pm
Don't mess with the Feds. It could be a $500b deal, but if you cross the gubbmnt, they can mess you up royally.
That said, I'm honestly ambivalent on the deal, though I would hope they'd keep Carly. ;-)
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