Suddenly, Cingular-AT&T Wireless Merger To Get More Scrutiny

from the oh,-hey,-maybe-we-should-look-at-that.. dept

Ever since the rumors began about big mobile carriers merging, it's been generally expected that any such merger wouldn't run into any sort of regulatory problems. After Cingular won the war for AT&T Wireless, most people expected that they wouldn't have much of a problem getting through the anti-trust review. However, it sounds like a few folks in the Justice Department have suddenly woken up and realized that maybe, just maybe, they should check this one out a bit more carefully. Apparently, the claim is that they want to make sure they have all their bases covered, since it's likely that this deal will set a precedent for future mobile mergers (which are still somewhat expected). Oddly, they also claim that the sudden concern is due to the realization that AT&T Wireless is the last major mobile phone carrier not backed by a Bell company. Apparently, someone forgot to include T-Mobile and Nextel in the discussion. T-Mobile is backed by Deutsche Telekom, but it's certainly not an American Bell company. Still, the Justice Department is suddenly worried that the Bells will absolutely dominate the mobile phone business (weren't they doing so already?) and keep out all kinds of competition. Again, this seems fairly easy to disprove (T-Mobile, Nextel...), but if they really feel the need for a little extra scrutiny, then let them have at it.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. icon
    Derek Kerton (profile), 15 Jul 2004 @ 1:29am

    Not A Real Issue

    Yet, there will be ample competition from MVNOs, VoIP, WoWIFI, and among the bells themselves (these are no longer the days of one Bell). And as you said, T-Mobile and Nextel are no slouches, and new entrants may appear with limited-mobility mobile services (WLL) like LittleSmart in China. Ultimately, the US has suffered under too much competition in mobile telecom, not too little.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.