FCC to consider AT&T’s Qualcomm, T-Mobile deals together

The Federal Communications Commission said late Monday that it will consider AT&T’s proposed acquisitions of T-Mobile USA and spectrum from Qualcomm together in a setback for the telecom giant.

FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan acknowledged that AT&T’s proposal to purchase $1.9 billion in
Qualcomm spectrum raises issues related to the T-Mobile merger, which
opponents argue would eventually leave the U.S. wireless market in the
hands of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. 

{mosads}”The
Commission’s ongoing review has confirmed that the proposed transactions
raise a number of related issues, including, but not limited to,
questions regarding AT&T’s aggregation of spectrum throughout the
nation, particularly in overlapping areas,” Kaplan wrote.

Kaplan issued a letter announcing the agency has stopped the informal shot clock on the Qualcomm review to consider it in conjunction with the T-Mobile deal, which has drawn harsh criticism from advocacy groups and competing wireless firms.

A coalition of public-interest groups including Public Knowledge and
Consumers Union wrote to the FCC in April asking them to combine the
reviews. The deal has been under review for 180 days.

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AT&T has argued the T-Mobile merger will allow it to deploy next-generation wireless broadband nationwide while using existing spectrum more efficiently. The firm noted the commission stopped short of formally combining the deals and said it remains confident the FCC will approve the license transfers.

“We believe the Qualcomm transaction stands on its own merits,” said an AT&T spokesman. “We are pleased that the commission has rejected calls to officially consolidate the two deals and has expressly preserved the ability for the Qualcomm application to be resolved in advance of the T-Mobile application.”

Qualcomm issued a statement calling for the commission to approve the deal, and argued the spectrum sale is totally unrelated to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.

“The FCC should approve the pending AT&T-Qualcomm spectrum sale now because of the clear benefits to the public from the sale that stand on their own and are totally unrelated to the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile merger,” said Dean Brenner, Qualcomm vice president for government affairs.

Opponents of the T-Mobile deal, including Sprint and public-interest groups, applauded the move, arguing it would give the FCC a broader look at the competitive landscape and how the wireless market would be affected by AT&T’s moves.

“Given the complexity of the regulatory review of both proposed transactions, it’s a reasonable step for the FCC to coordinate the two reviews,” said Sprint senior vice president for government affairs Vonya McCann. “The proposed transactions would produce game-changing effects on consumers and on competition in the wireless market.”

“It doesn’t matter whether both transactions are in the same docket; the fact that the Bureau will consider them together in any manner is a strong statement,” said Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn.