With the US Department of Justice showing strong opposition to the AT&T buyout of T-Mobile, the carrier is ready to do drastic things to prevent the deal from dying.
The DOJ filed a lawsuit against AT&T, saying that its proposed acquisition of the fellow mobile operator would substantially lessen competition, making it in violation of antitrust laws.
It is a huge blow against the company, which previously said it had no concerns about being able to pass the regulatory approval process.
In response to the DOJ’s concerns, AT&T stated it will stop outsourcing customer service operations, bringing thousands of jobs to the US, instead of killing jobs.
But that’s not enough. Now, AT&T is saying that it is willing to sell as much as 25% of T-Mobile’s properties in the mobile space, like spectrum, infrastructure, and customer base.
AT&T has set aside a whopping $39 billion for the buyout, so there’s no way the company is going down without a fight. Even if the deal does fail, per the terms of the contract it will still have to pay T-Mobile a huge sum of cash.
To the average consumer, the whole process is bound to just end up causing nothing but confusion. Those who don’t understand the bewildering approval process believe the two companies have already merged, but this story is far from over.
Regardless of what happens with the DOJ, AT&T and T-Mobile still need to go through a thorough review with the Federal Communications Commission, which must also weigh in on whether or not the acquisition poses a monopolistic threat.
