June 18-24: AT&T/T-Mobile Update

We return this week to the story that's been dominating our Headlines since mid-March: AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile.

First off, thankfully, there's no worries: the deal is on track to close by March 2012. No problems. No unexpected resistance. Nothing to see here behind the curtain. Or so says AT&T. The company's general counsel, Wayne Watts, met with DC reporters June 21 to reiterate that the deal will get done as things move along at both the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

Typical of the support AT&T has gotten for the deal, the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts sent a letter to the FCC this week citing the familiar arguments in favor of the merger from proponents: that it will speed the deployment of 4G wireless broadband to more than 97 percent of the population and increase the membership of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The letter also touts AT&T's commitment to preventing online piracy of movies and music while T-Mobile's efforts have been "less than adequate." NHFA argues the acquisition of T-Mobile would benefit content creators because AT&T has gone much further than T-Mobile to ensure its networks aren't used to download pirated content.

But the NHFA's letter of support is also typical of a darker side of this debate.