Sprint announced that it has filed a lawsuit with a federal court in the U.S. District of Columbia in an effort to block AT&T’s planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom and Sprint also said that the deal would also give AT&T and T-Mobile an unfair advantage over Sprint and other independent carriers. The lawsuits were filed in response to a Bursor & Fisher law firm signing up over 1,000 customers looking to block the deal using the arbitration clause in the customer contract and this isn’t the first time the carrier has let the world know that it’s not particularly pumped about the whole proposal……………
Sprint Nextel brought suit against AT&T Inc., AT&T Mobility, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile seeking to block the proposed acquisition as a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia as a related case to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) suit against the proposed acquisition. “Sprint opposes AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile,” said Susan Z. Haller, vice president-Litigation, Sprint. “With today’s legal action, we are continuing that advocacy on behalf of consumers and competition, and expect to contribute our expertise and resources in proving that the proposed transaction is illegal.” Sprint’s lawsuit focuses on the competitive and consumer harms which would result from a takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T. The proposed takeover would:
- Harm retail consumers and corporate customers by causing higher prices and less innovation.
- Entrench the duopoly control of AT&T and Verizon, the two “Ma Bell” descendants, of the almost one-quarter of a trillion dollar wireless market. As a result of the transaction, AT&T and Verizon would control more than three-quarters of that market and 90 percent of the profits.
- Harm Sprint and the other independent wireless carriers. If the transaction were to be allowed, a combined AT&T and T-Mobile would have the ability to use its control over backhaul, roaming and spectrum, and its increased market position to exclude competitors, raise their costs, restrict their access to handsets, damage their businesses and ultimately to lessen competition.
Sprint complaint against AT&T’s T-mobile acquisition
