This morning the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to prevent AT&T from acquiring its competitor T-Mobile. In response, CCIA President and CEO Ed Black issued this statement:
“We are pleased, but not surprised. From the outset, it was clear that this merger was anticompetitive. This was a slam-dunk decision for the DOJ, as this was a textbook case of a blatantly anticompetitive horizontal merger. We are grateful that the Justice Department ignored AT&T’s unprecedented political pressure and made its decision based on the clear facts gleaned from its thorough investigation. This is exactly what a well functioning antitrust authority is meant to do — prevent dangerous concentration of power and protect consumers — and that is what the Justice Department did today.
“This merger would be disastrous for consumers, innovation, jobs, the Internet ecosystem and our economy in general. Mobile broadband is quickly emerging as the future of the Internet and is serving as an increasingly vital sector to the entire economy. The negative effects of this merger would have been felt far beyond mobile wireless network services in mobile applications, advertising, wireless security systems, equipment and handset devices, not to mention every industry in America that relies on mobile communications. T-Mobile has always been an innovative, customer service and value-oriented competitor that helps discipline the market for the benefit of all.”