AT&T Customers Sue to Block T-Mobile Aquisition
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Comments 45
Jul 22, 2011, 1:17 PM by Eric M. Zeman
A New York law firm has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 11 AT&T customers in an attempt to block AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. The lawsuit claims that the acquisition would violate the Clayton Antitrust Act. The lawyers argue, "Government enforcement is an important part of the antitrust laws, but the Clayton Act also permits private parties who may be adversely affected to challenge a proposed merger. That means any AT&T cellphone, data or iPad customer who will suffer higher prices and diminished service because of this merger can sue to stop it from happening." The group has set up a web site, called FightTheMerger.com, to serve as a discussion point. The group will have to get around provisions in AT&T's standard contract that prohibit class action lawsuits, but the lawyers are confident they can circumnavigate any potential legal barriers. In its recent earnings report, AT&T expressed confidence that the FCC and DoJ will approve the acquisition, though a number of consumers, government officials, companies, and organizations have opposed it from the beginning.
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Zant
Jul 22, 2011, 6:33 PM
Why don't they just say it!!
Of course they are confident, when you have lobbyists doing dirty work for you and paying government officials millions of dollars to do what you want, you don't have to worry if you will get what you want.
In this country, money will buy ANYTHING!!
Correct. De La Vega greased all the right pockets. Hopefully the Quislings in Washington think twice.
Why the need for 4G anyway?
At&t is not cheap at all and sucks as it is. This would bad for t-mobile users to say the least but let's not go there. From a legal perspective this does seem like the most valid argument to throw at a judge. At&t seems to have a convenient excuse for all of their shortcomings to fend off the lawsuits in regards to service isuues.
In regards to my comment, what justifies the need for 4G in the most rural of areas anyways? For all practical purposes they have at least 2G right? And those that need more bandwidth surely use wi-fi or wired networks already. At&t has a history of absolute failures in regards to everything they say they will do and this whole merger reeks of bs to simply eliminate competition.
There is no need for 4G in those areas, at&t is using this as an argument to try to push the merger, nothing more.
EDGE is fast enough to stream Youtube (it is for me, anyways) HD is not required.
And yes, all the people that live in the stic...
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what a bunch of idiots lawyers!
what a bunch of idiots lawyers! i would not hire them if it' free!
this merger will force att customers to pay higher prices?
att can raise their prices anytime with or without the tmobile merger!
That and its not like t-mobile is competition anyways. They have horrible coverage. 40 percent of my new customers return their service due to coverage.
I dont know why people assume that at&t will begin raising prices if the sale goes through. They still have to compete against Verizon and Sprint. They cant just raise theyre prices without expecting a backlash. Verizon charges $30 for 2GB of data ...
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netboy said:
what a bunch of idiots lawyers! i would not hire them if it' free!
this merger will force att customers to pay higher prices?
att can raise their prices anytime with or without the tmobile merger!
I ...
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tova
Jul 22, 2011, 1:29 PM
Yay
As a T-Mobile customer, I hope you are successful. A merger would be catastrophic for both of us. No competition= sky high prices.
That statement doesn't even make sense. What do you mean no competition? Verizon doesn't offer competition? Sprint doesn't offer competition? Prepaid doesn't offer competition especially when prepaid service is on the raise? This merger will only s...
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Seriously? AT&T has acquired multiple other smaller companies over the years and never has it affected pricing. They offer great deals to customers of acquired providers (I know, I work for AT&T and regularly see accounts acquired from other carriers...
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What yall don't know bout att and verizon?
If ATT acquires Tmobile. They will be able to control prices a lot better than without Tmobile. Why? ATT and Verizon already own most of the network backhaul and core fiber wirelines in America. They rent and charge fees for other mobile networks to use their backhaul and interconnecting them. Sprint and others(MetroPCS, etc) will be the only ones left behind without a core network and they will have to raise their prices if ATT/Verizon agree to raise their fees. That is a lot of leverage. ATT/Verizon already dislike Sprint for having cheaper plans. Ironically, most Verizon customers swear by God that Verizon is the cheapest deal. LOL.
Actually USCC will still be there with their own core network. Yeah they are the "Little Guy" of the national carriers, but they are still growing and profitable. Not saying they are going to be a major competitor for ATT or Ver in the near future by ...
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This merger CAN NOT be allowed to go through
But more importantly, none of these carriers are even a blip on either AT&T or Verizon's radar. And what I mean by that, is that their capacity as a company to offer significant challenges to AT&T or Verizon's customer base is a pipe dream. Do you know why most of these companies are up and running? Because they're willing to take on the customers that AT&T and Verizon are unwilling to accept with out paying a heft up front deposit.
Bottom line: This merger, if successful, will be VERY bad for the consumers. All the fanboys (on both sides) might try to tell you this will bring about good things, clearly have no idea how the corporate world works.
This will KILL competition in price point, phone selection, and network services / capab...
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I wouldn't go so far as to assume this assures a new era of the "Ma Bell" years. Back then when you moved into your new house, you HAD to call the one company that serviced the area. There were no choices.
It's not doomsday, but less competition is...
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