AT&T Dealt Defeat on T-Mobile After $12M in Lobbying

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-01/at-t-s-12-million-lobbying-spree-fails-to-prevent-rare-antitrust-setback.html

The U.S. move to block AT&T Inc. (T)’s purchase of T-Mobile USA Inc. marks a rare Washington defeat for the largest U.S. phone company, a failure deal opponents called a triumph of antitrust analysis over lobbying muscle.

As it sought regulators’ blessing for the transaction, AT&T boosted lobbying spending by 30 percent to $11.7 million in the first six months of 2011 from the same period last year, according to Senate records. Its PAC gave $805,500 to federal candidates this year, more than any other company, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington research group.

The company’s lobbying strategy has been guided by 13-year company veteran Jim Cicconi, a Washington insider since serving in the Reagan White House. It produced letters to regulators from more than 70 members of Congress, multiple economic studies aimed at supporting the deal, and a pledge to preserve 5,000 jobs. Nonetheless, the Justice Department yesterday sued to halt the $39 billion deal, calling it harmful to competition.

AT&T “never understood that the facts were so bad that no amount of political pressure was going to make a difference,” Gigi Sohn, president of the Washington-based advocacy group Public Knowledge that opposes the deal, said in an interview with Bloomberg Government. “Kudos to the Justice Department and the Obama administration for keeping politics out of it

[Shagbark Hickory]

1. Come on, ATAT, you've got a lot more palms to grease... The clock's ticking!

[Sherman A1]

2. It isn't over yet, but

this is a good start.

[xchrom]

3. Deutsche Telekom Unprepared for Deal Collapse

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-31/deutsche-telekom-board-is-said-to-have-been-unprepared-for-at-t-complaint.html

Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) hasn’t prepared any alternative scenarios for its T-Mobile USA unit if a $39 billion proposed sale to AT&T Inc. falls apart, a management board member said today.

Managers led by Chief Executive Officer Rene Obermann were meeting with Deutsche Telekom’s supervisory board yesterday when they heard the U.S. Justice Department sued to block the deal, Niek Jan van Damme said in Berlin. Obermann, who had previously demonstrated confidence that the transaction would be approved, was taken by surprise, said a person familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because the meeting was private.

Deutsche Telekom shares slumped 7.6 percent in Frankfurt trading yesterday, erasing 3.1 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in market value. The Bonn-based company said it will join AT&T in contesting the Justice Department’s complaint in court. The transaction is the biggest for Obermann, 48, since he became CEO at Europe’s largest telephone company in 2006.

“Other scenarios were not being discussed,” Van Damme, who heads Deutsche Telekom’s German business, told reporters on the sidelines of the IFA electronics fair in Berlin. “When you are in a deal, you stick to that deal, a clear focus on that deal.”

[peacetalksforall]

4. Why do I have the feeling that they wanted T-Mobile to make spying easier for them?

Or is it just one of the moves on the country - to have everything precious to the people in the hands of a few.