AT&T on merger: Leave Qualcomm deal out of it

AT&T said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should leave its review of AT&T's $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile separate from the process examining AT&T's purchase of spectrum from Qualcomm. Opponents to the AT&T|T-Mobile deal asked the FCC to combine the reviews, betting that combining the reviews would strengthen their argument that AT&T is grabbing a lot of power in the wireless market. AT&T said: "These are two completely separate proceedings and should remain so. The FCC has been fully briefed by all interested parties on our application to acquire spectrum from Qualcomm." The company is 77 days into the 180-day shot clock on the Qualcomm spectrum acquisition.