Seven U.S. states band together against AT&T, T-Mobile merger
The battle for AT&T and T-Mobile is heating up by the day. The latest move comes from seven U.S. state attorney generals who have lent their support to the Department of Justice in an effort to block the proposed $39 billion merger of AT&T and T-Mobile.
Those states are California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. Of course, AT&T retaliated by telling Reuters that it has "11 state attorneys general and hundreds of other local, state and federal officials" on its side already.
This move comes just a day after a collective of 15 House Democrats rallied with a letter to the White House asking for President Obama to ask the DOJ to settle the lawsuit so that it may be approved.
Naturally, Sprint chimed in to support this move. Vonya McCann, Sprint's senior vice president for government affairs, issued the following statement with a familiar argument:
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.
Opposition from some of the most heavily populated states in the nation could help out the DOJ and influence the Federal Communications Commission even more.
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