US mobile operator AT&T has made a new filing to telecoms regulator the FCC in response to attacks on its agreed US$39bn acquisition of T-Mobile USA. In late May, mobile operator Sprint Nextel formally asked the FCC to block the deal. In a statement…
US mobile operator AT&T has made a new filing to telecoms regulator the FCC in response to attacks on its agreed US$39bn acquisition of T-Mobile USA.
In late May, mobile operator Sprint Nextel formally asked the FCC to block the deal.
In a statement last week, AT&T emphasised the “overarching imperative” behind the transaction: “giving AT&T and T-Mobile USA customers the network capacity they need to enjoy the full promise of the mobile broadband revolution”.
The two companies also highlighted the support they had received from several big players in Silicon Valley and the US wireless market. These include Facebook, Microsoft, Qualcomm, RIM and Yahoo!.
AT&T said these companies support the transaction because the LTE platform it would make available would help fuel entrepreneurship, innovation and investment.
It added: “In addition, they recognise that the transaction will use spectrum more efficiently, improve service quality, and deploy an expanded LTE network, all of which will in turn drive a virtuous cycle of technology deployment, job creation, and economic growth.”
AT&T said that the combined company would be able to provide LTE to 97% of Americans.
The two companies also repeated arguments that the deal would generate jobs and economic growth, that the wireless market would remain “vibrantly competitive”, and that the network capacity of the combined company would “far exceed” the sum of its pre-merger parts.
