Sprint Discusses Concerns with AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile, Plans to Fight It

Brad Molen  By on 24 Mar 11

The elephant in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida has been the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. CTIA has been all abuzz this week with talk about whether or not the deal will go through, what could happen, and how long it would take. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has been more than forthcoming in his opinion of the potential merger, and it’s certainly not a positive one.

The CEO for Sprint mentioned at CTIA that if the deal goes through, 79% of the country’s wireless subscribers would be in the hands of 2 carriers. Such a move would stifle innovation; AT&T would have “tremendous power” and as such would hold every possible advantage over the other two companies, not to mention become the only nationwide GSM carrier.

Sprint’s shares dropped 14 percent on Monday, the day after the news of the acquisition was released. But the third-largest US wireless provider isn’t just going to lay down and let the acquisition just happen; instead, Sprint plans to officially submit its concerns to Congress.

Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president at AT&T, said in response to Hesse’s concerns:

We understand Sprint has concerns, and we’ll be happy to address any they present, whether at the Justice Department, the FCC or the Congress. We feel we have good and compelling answers. And we feel policymakers will readily understand that any company with whom AT&T competes may not be especially positive about anything which makes AT&T a better competitor in the wireless market.

It is clear that AT&T is going to have a long and hard fight ahead of them if they hope to successfully acquire T-Mobile.

via Bloomberg, via PhoneScoop

Share on Tumblr

If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:

« »

Subscribe to our Twitter updatesVisit us on FacebookVisit us on GooglePlusSubscribe via RSS