U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle has set February 13, 2012 as the trial date for the the Department of Justice’s challenge to AT&T’s proposed $ 39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile. The DOJ wants to block this merger. The judge made the decision Wednesday after meeting with the various parties, including competitors.
AT&T and T-Mobile USA had initially asked for a January 16, 2012 trial date. The AT&T-T-Mobile USA merger has come under heavy criticism, especially from rivals like privately held Cellular South and Sprint . Seven state attorneys general have come out against the deal as well.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, not surprisingly, is in favor of the merger as it allows a comfortable duopoly to exist between two former Bell companies. They can together continue to push their anti-consumer agenda if the deal goes through and there are a fewer competitors. Both AT&T and Verizon want to push metered billing and keep the prices high. I have been a loud opponent of this deal mostly because I view it as anti-consumer and unfriendly to innovation.
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