AT&T doesn’t want Sprint near any courtroom that’s involved in its attempt to acquire T-Mobile and become the largest mobile operator in the US.
Sprint has taken an active approach in trying to derail the buyout bid, which it says would reduce competition and could potentially cripple its stance in the mobile war.
Verizon currently holds the title as the biggest carrier in the country, but with only four ‘majoror carriers,’ all of the big players have huge chunks of subscribers, and AT&T swallowing up T-Mobile would absolutely catapult it ahead of Verizon.
If the deal were to go through, Sprint would have the most to lose as it would be knocked down to the major carrier with the fewest subscribers.
So the company has tried to persuade the government into denying regulatory approval for the deal. Sprint has even filed its own lawsuit against AT&T, claiming the purchase would violate antitrust laws.
Today, however, AT&T is expected to ask a federal judge to throw out that lawsuit entirely.
The biggest issue for AT&T is that if the lawsuit goes through, Sprint would likely be granted the legal right to look over all the confidential paperwork involved in the T-Mobile buyout. AT&T does not want that information in the hands of Sprint.
But knocking Sprint out of the game isn’t the only hurdle AT&T needs to overcome. The US Department of Justice has also filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. It’s not a good sign when the government sues you, and you need the government’s approval.
Nevertheless, AT&T remains vigilant and confident that it can convince officials to approve the deal. If it doesn’t, it will have wasted millions of dollars in legal costs and will be forced to pay T-Mobile a hefty fee, as noted in the acquisition contract.
There are still several months, at the very least, in this epic corporate saga.
