WASHINGTON — AT&T Inc. blasted the Federal Communications Commission’s report on its $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA, saying the agency’s “utter absence of balance is clear, and demonstrates that the document lacks all credibility.”
“The document is so obviously one-sided that any fair- minded person reading it is left with the clear impression that it is an advocacy piece, and not a considered analysis,” Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s top lobbyist, wrote in a blog post Thursday.
On Tuesday, the FCC released a 109-page staff report detailing its concerns about AT&T’s deal, saying it would limit competition in virtually every U.S. city and lead to higher prices for consumers.
The agency released the report after it approved AT&T’s request to withdraw the T-Mobile deal from review as the companies focus on the Justice Department’s challenge to the deal in federal court.
AT&T said the staff report shouldn’t be released, but the FCC did so anyway, saying it was important in the interests of transparency for parties to understand its concerns about the deal. The report is expected to be filed with the court hearing the Justice Department challenge.
The FCC dismissed AT&T’s criticism of the report.
“The AT&T/T-Mobile merger would result in the single greatest increase in wireless industry consolidation ever proposed,” an FCC spokesman said. “The FCC’s expert staff dispassionately analyzed all of the facts, including the arguments AT&T rehashes today.”
