AT&T, T-Mobile file merger application at Dept of Justice

On April 8, AT&T filed its application for an antitrust review of its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile at the Justice Department. The company said it aims for April 21 to file its applications for a public interest regulatory review at the Federal Communications Commission.

Experts say the reviews could take one year to 18 months. The merger appears to be a clear horizontal deal that initially looks hard to pass. Justice has approved Google’s purchase of ITA and Comcast’s joint venture with NBC Universal, but those were so-called vertical mergers without significant overlapping businesses. A source at the FCC said the merger will be an uphill battle for AT&T. But James Cicconi, AT&T’s executive vice president of external affairs, is arguing that the deal will still leave plenty of competition and that a market-by-market analysis performed by Justice will prove it.