Congress Set to Grill AT&T, T-Mobile on Mega-Merger

From DailyTech: AT&T, Inc (T) hopes to soon complete an acquisition of Deutsche Telekom AG's (DTE) T-Mobile USA. But to get there, the companies have to navigate through a Congressional inquiry -- which occurs today -- regulatory hurdles set up by a number of government agencies, and strong opposition from smaller rivals.

The move would unify T-Mobile's 32.3 million subscribers with AT&T's 97.5 million subscribers to form the nation's largest carrier, easily surpassing Verizon Communications, Inc.'s (VZ) 104 million subscribers. Together, Verizon and AT&T would have 80 percent of contract cell phone customers in the U.S.

The move would leave the struggling Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) with 51 million customers as the only alternative to Verizon/AT&T. Sprint Nextel is viewed as a potential acquisition target as well.

Before AT&T can complete its purchase, it must gain approval from the U.S Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The road to that approval begins today in a special Congressional hearing on the deal. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson and T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm will have to defend the acquisition before the U.S. Senate's antitrust subcommittee.

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