AT&T Opposes Sprint/Clearwire Merger — Or At Least Wants It To Be More Difficult

AT&T (NYSE: T) has asked the FCC to deny a merger request from Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel and Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR), which the two companies announced back in May, stating: “While AT&T does not fundamentally oppose the underlying transactions, the regulatory process must be consistent for all entrants,” AT&T’s filing said. “The applicants themselves have positioned their company as the single largest holder of broadband mobile spectrum in the country,” reports CNN Money. The issue is that Sprint and Clearwire have discounted some of the airwaves they intend to use for the internet service because it isn’t operational yet, and if those airwaves were taken into account the merger would receive higher scrutiny… such as AT&T received when it bought Dobson Communications last year. Sprint Spokesman Scott Sloat counteracted with the news that “almost 50 public entities that have access to those airwaves filed comments favoring the merger”.

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