Fcc Questioning Att Mobile Merger Only 3 8 Billion Needed Not Acquisition

FCC Questioning AT&T-Mobile Merger. Only 3.8 Billion Needed, Not Acquisition

Written by Matthew   //

August 24, 2022   //

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The recent acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T may already be complete on paper, but it’s not finalized until the FCC says so. Today, the FCC began to dig deeper into AT&T’s interest inT-Mobile, starting with evidence.  The FCC requested a justification on their $39 billion buyout of T-Mobile when only $3.8 billion is needed to complete their LTE roll out to the majority of the US.  Part of AT&T’s reason for buying T-Mobile is that they insisted that they needed their resources for its LTE network.

All AT&T needs is $3.8 billion to reach 95-97% of the US population.  It is up to the FCC to determine any underlying reasons for this buyout.  Concerns exist that AT&T is using T-Mobile as a pretext for the ultimate goal of eliminating a major competitor (Verizon).

AT&T has pointed out additional benefits for the buyout.  They claim most of the benefits would be to the customers, things like better coverage and a faster 4G roll out

Sprint, which would default to last place in the carrier race, have a lot to lose.  They have even proposed to AT&T to start using the unused spectrum and move faster to 4G to avoid falling behind Verizon.  This could all be done without acquiring T-Mobile.  AT&T believes that is only a short term fix.  Currently, AT&T has serious coverage issues in major cities like San Francisco and New York.  It has remained to be seen if their LTE network will be anything like what we have experienced with Verizon.

This AT&T–Mobile deal is heating up.  What do you guys think/hope will happen?

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