The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) this afternoon said it would release as a staff report the Commission
investigation of AT&T’s application to take over T-Mobile. The Commission is also allowing AT&T to
withdraw its application.
The following statement is attributed to
Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“The information that the FCC compiled
over much of this year should spell the end of AT&T’s attempted takeover of
T-Mobile. The Commission was prepared to
challenge on the basis of its investigation the justifications AT&T gave
for the takeover, including those that the deal would somehow create tens of
thousands of jobs.
“Despite AT&T’s efforts to suppress
the results of the FCC inquiry, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is to be
commended for making this critical information public. We expect that the data the Commission staff
uncovered will dissuade AT&T from not only taking any more action on this
deal, but from trying to make any further purchases of competitors.
“The only issue that should be on the
table now is how AT&T and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom can negotiate a
breakup fee.”
Public Knowledge and Media Access Project
yesterday called for the release of the results of the FCC’s work. That release is here.