Pleading Cycle Set for Review of AT&T's Acquisition of T-Mobile

On April 28, the Federal Communications Commission released a schedule for the public to comment on AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. Petitions to Deny the merger are due Tuesday, May 31, 2011. Oppositions to those petitions are due Friday, June 10. Replies to those filings are due Monday, June 20.

To allow the FCC to consider fully all substantive issues regarding the Applications in as timely and efficient a manner as possible, petitioners and commenters should raise all issues in their initial filings. New issues may not be raised in responses or replies. A party or interested person seeking to raise a new issue after the pleading cycle has closed must show good cause why it was not possible for it to have raised the issue previously. Submissions after the pleading cycle has closed that seek to raise new issues based on new facts or newly discovered facts should be filed within 15 days after such facts are discovered. Absent such a showing of good cause, any issues not timely raised may be disregarded by the FCC.