The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is seeking an administrative hearing on the proposed $39 billion merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, the agency told reporters on Wednesday, according to Forbes.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has circulated a draft order requesting the agency’s five commissioners to approve the hearing, which would take place before an administrative law judge, because the agency cannot find the merger to be “be in the public interest,” or it has “substantial, material questions” about it, Forbes reported.
The FCC had already been reviewing the deal under the terms of a normal telecommunications merger, and was on day 171 of a self-imposed 180-day shot clock, at which point the agency was supposed to decide if the merger could proceed or if it wasn’t in the public interest. (At that point, the FCC couldn’t legally block the merger but it could prevent AT&T and T-Mobile from transferring wireless spectrum licenses, which would effectively render the merger moot anyway.)
The move is a blow to an already embattled AT&T, which is fending off antitrust lawsuits filed by the Justice Department and rivals Sprint and C-Spire wireless over the proposed merger.
The hearing would also be an usual measure of extra scrutiny from the FCC, as the last time a hearing of this type occurred was in 2002 for the proposed merger of DirecTV and Echostar, which the companies eventually abandoned, the Wall Street Journal reported.
AT&T emailed TPM the following statement from Larry Solomon, senior vice president of Corporate Communications at AT&T:
“The FCC’s action today is disappointing. It is yet another example of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs at a time when the US economy desperately needs both.
“At this time, we are reviewing all options.”
We’ve reached out to the FCC for more information and will update when we receive a response.
Carl Franzen
Carl Franzen is TPM Idea Lab's tech reporter. He used to work for The Daily, AOL and The Atlantic Wire (though not simultaneously, thankfully). He's never met a button that didn't need to be pressed. He can be reached at carl@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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