At a court hearing this morning, the
Justice Department said it will file next Tuesday at noon a motion to stay the
case or to have it withdrawn. AT&T will have by the end of Wednesday
to reply and a hearing will be held on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
The following is attributed to Harold
Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge:
“We are
pleased that the Justice Department will file next week to halt the case
against the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile.
Judge Ellen Huvelle was right to be skeptical about AT&T’s claims
that ‘nothing has changed’ since the company withdrew its application from the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“AT&T
is attempting to use the court system to force approval of the deal from the
FCC and to avoid a break-up fee before the deal’s deadline next year. As Huvelle pointed out, any concerns about
timing, however, are of AT&T’s own making.
“AT&T
sketched out a fantasy scenario to gain approval of a deal which is in itself a
fantasy, as the comprehensive FCC staff report found. Rather than cost taxpayers and private
companies millions of dollars in fees to pursue this fantasy, AT&T should
abandon a transaction which will raise prices, hurt consumers and stifle
innovation.”