AfterDawn: News

Judge says Sprint and C-Spire lawsuits to block AT&T / T-Mobile deal can proceed

Antitrust lawsuits opposing the buyout of T-Mobile USA by AT&T will be allowed to continue thanks to a ruling by a federal judge.

Sprint and C-Spire (formerly Cellular South) are seeking to block the purchase on the grounds it will give AT&T the ability to get exclusive handset deals.



Although several portions of both companies' complaints were thrown out by the judge, The Washington Post reports both carriers will be allowed to continue pursuing their lawsuits on some of their claims.

The suits are in addition to the antitrust action being pursued by the Justice Department.

AT&T is currently the second largest of four US mobile carriers who provide nationwide coverage. Sprint is the third largest, followed by T-Mobile.

C-Spire Wireless is a regional carrier located in the southeastern part of the country.

The deal has been plagued by questions about the truthfulness of AT&T claims about the necessity of buying T-Mobile to provide LTE coverage and whether it will result in more or fewer jobs.

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 3 Nov 2011 6:08

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• 4 comments

• ruff469

  Now that is a good reason to block them. I've said it before, I like the underdog but Sprint is really getting their butts kicked and the phone selection limitation is a big part of it. I think the phone providers should make the same phone same specs across the board open market and each carrier can get into the OS and App game to make the phones exclusive. To a certain point it is like that but the Nexus Prime is gonna be a killer phone and it will hurt sprint more not to have that than the iphone IMO.
  

  3.11.2011 07:50 #1

• ZeusAV

  Sprint needs to work on their coverage and 3G data speeds. That's why I stay away from them. In my opinion, they're the worst of the 4 carriers overall.
  
  As for this merger, things aren't looking good for AT&T. Hopefully it eventually gets blocked because we really do need T-Mobile (and Sprint) around to prevent AT&T and Verizon from gaining a duopoly in this market that's already barely competitive as it is.

  3.11.2011 07:58 #2

• plutonash

  Idk why sprint is so worried, if they are truly rolling out LTE Advanced early 2013 or 2012, people will flock to them if there going to still keep unlimited and the data speeds are just that more consistent. If they didn't waste money on wimax they could've had it maybe early next year.
  

  "Cable thief is a victimless crime."

  3.11.2011 10:48 #3

• pmshah

  Considering the kind of packages being offered by the US carriers I thank God that we in India do not have to contend with any of them.
  
  I can buy ABSOLUTELY any instrument I want - be it CDMA or GSM - and have my pick of the carrier and package.
  
  On the whole we have far better legislation against Monopolies and restrictive trade practices.

  6.11.2011 08:23 #4