Sprint sues to stop AT&T, T-Mobile merger [The Hill]
Less than a week after the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T, Sprint has brought a suit of its own alleging that the acquisition is "brazenly anti-competitive."
Sprint alleges that if the deal were to go through, AT&T and Verizon would together own 90% of the mobile market. Sprint would be a distant third option in that scenario. Sprint believes that giving this much power over the mobile market to AT&T would result in an ability to increase rates, restrict access to certain handsets, and negatively impact any competition.
Interestingly, Sprint had been in talks to purchase T-Mobile before AT&T stepped in and there are still rumors that Sprint might bid on T-Mobile if the AT&T deal fell through. However, many reports indicate that Sprint simply does not have the money for a purchase of that size.
Similar to the DOJ's claims, Sprint alleges that this deal is an attempt by AT&T to eliminate an innovative, low-price competitor, which would effectively clear the road for AT&T's dominantion in the mobile market.
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