The US government has filed a lawsuit to block the US$39 billion merger of AT&T with T-Mobile USA. According to the filing, the deal would violate US antitrust law and would “substantially lessen competition” in the US wireless market.
Should the merger be blocked, AT&T would have to give Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile USA’s parent company, a break-up fee worth between US$6 and US$7 billion.
Should the merger go ahead, it would make AT&T the largest US carrier ahead of current leader Verizon and much smaller competitor Sprint. The latter has already asked the FCC to block the acquisition. The FCC itself is still studying the proposed merger details.