Some Industry Reaction

Sprint: "The DOJ today delivered a decisive victory for consumers, competition and our country. By filing suit to block AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile, the DOJ has put consumers' interests first. Sprint applauds the DOJ for conducting a careful and thorough review and for reaching a just decision – one which will ensure that consumers continue to reap the benefits of a competitive U.S. wireless industry. Contrary to AT&T's assertions, today's action will preserve American jobs, strengthen the American economy, and encourage innovation." --


CWA Union: "-The decision by the U.S. Department of Justice to seek to block the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA is simply wrong. In today's sinking economy, where millions of Americans are looking for work, the DOJ has decided to oppose a merger that will create as many as 96,000 quality jobs. In the U.S., where too many Americans, especially in rural areas, don't have access to the tools of Internet technology, the DOJ has determined that a plan to build out high speed wireless access to 97 percent of the country should be opposed."


FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski: "Competition is an essential component of the
FCC's statutory public interest analysis, and although our process is not complete, the record before
this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on
competition."


FCC Commissioner Michael Copps: "Today's announcement shows a Department of Justice taking its pro-competitive responsibilities seriously. I share the concerns about competition and have numerous other
concerns about the public interest effects of the proposed transaction, including consumer choice
and innovation."


COMPTEL: ""COMPTEL is thankful the Department of Justice recognized the substantially negative impact this merger would have on competition and has taken the appropriate action of filing an antitrust lawsuit to block AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile." Jerry James, CEO of COMPTEL.


Rural Telecommunications Group: "DOJ's pre-Labor Day decision (less than 4 months after AT&T filed to acquire T-Mobile) shows that there is no question that this merger would have been bad for rural America, rural consumers, and rural carriers. AT&T pulled out all of the stops to get this deal done and failed. RTG applauds the DOJ for allowing wireless competition to live to see another day and to allow T-Mobile to continue to innovate and be the low price alternative to AT&T and Verizon. The jobs that have been saved today and the competition that has been preserved across the United States will go a long way to help the U.S. economy." -- RTG's General Counsel, Carri Bennet.


Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.): "The Justice Department's decision to take action to block AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile is a victory for competition, consumers and choice. We should be protecting American consumers holding their cell phones, not just telecommunications titans holding stock in the companies."http://www.convergedigest.com