AT&T: Dish Would Have Posed Regulatory Problems

AT&T chief financial officer John Stephens answered a question that has been on many investors’ minds in the past few days, saying that regulators would have had difficulty approving a deal for Dish.

Stephens said while DirecTV’s was still the carrier’s first choice, Dish’s spectrum would have made it more difficult to obtain regulatory approval. “Dish has been very loud about their intentions to get into broadband,” Stephens said. “From a regulatory perspective, bringing a company that either is or intends to be in broadband with another broadband company would be likely to raise additional regulatory scrutiny.”