The likelihood of an AT&T and T-Mobile merger appears to be dwindling. On Thursday the companies said they had withdrawn their application to the Federal Communications Commission to join their cellular phone operations.
While Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-Mobile, and AT&T said in a joint statement that they still intend to pursue the $39 billion merger and would prepare for a federal antitrust lawsuit that seeks to block it, they also said AT&T plans to take a $4 billion charge against earnings to pay Deutsche Telekom if the deal fails to go through.
The application withdrawal will prevent the F.C.C. from releasing AT&T and T-Mobile records about the potential effects of the merger. The companies say that the deal would not lessen competition and that it would create jobs but the Justice Department and F.C.C. have made statements to the contrary.
Read more at The New York Times.
