Issue of the week: Should the feds block a mobile merger?

The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust suit to stop AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile.

The U.S. government is out to stop the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, said Edward Wyatt in The New York Times. The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust suit seeking to block the $39 billion deal, arguing that a marriage of America’s No. 2 and No. 4 wireless phone carriers will result in higher prices for consumers, less mobile innovation, and fewer U.S. jobs. “Consumers will suffer” if this deal goes through, said Justice official Sharis A. Pozen. AT&T has vowed to fight the suit, which “could take years to wind its way through the courts.”

If you need convincing that the government has made the right move, just “spend a few minutes comparing mobile phone rates online,” said Bloomberg.com in an editorial. T-Mobile offers consistently lower prices than other carriers and competes with AT&T in 97 of the 100 biggest U.S. metro areas. AT&T says “don’t worry” about higher prices if it takes over T-Mobile, but “there is a lot to worry about.” A merged AT&T and its main rival, Verizon, would have 80 percent of the U.S. market and “could start colluding—without even needing to talk to one another,” said Ryan Singel in Wired.com. At the end of the day, AT&T hasn’t made a “persuasive case that consumers would be better off” or that it would stay “motivated to innovate or keep prices low,” said the Los Angeles Times. This suit shows why antitrust laws exist, and the government was right to side with competition—and consumers.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us