Seven US states join DoJ lawsuit against AT&T/T-Mobile merger

Seven states on Friday joined the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit seeking to block AT&T Inc.'s proposed $39 billion acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA, providing additional government opposition to the deal.

The department filed an amended legal complaint in a Washington D.C. federal court to indicate that state attorneys general from New York, Washington, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania have joined the case.

"We are pleased that these states have joined the department in its lawsuit," the department said in a written statement. "Together, we will seek to protect consumers from the anticompetitive harm that would result from this proposed transaction."

AT&T said in a statement that it wasn't unusual for states to participate in merger review proceedings or court filings.

"At the same time, we appreciate that 11 state attorneys general and hundreds of other local, state and federal officials are publicly supportive of our merger," the company said. AT&T again expressed an interest in reaching a settlement with the Justice Department.

"We have been and remain interested in a solution that addresses the DOJ's issues with the T-Mobile merger," the company said.

Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile senior vice president of government affairs, said his company remained "confident that the facts will prevail and the acquisition will proceed."

Mark Ostrau, an antitrust lawyer at Fenwick & West, said that while the states will most likely remain supporting players, they wouldn't have joined the case unless they intended to exert some influence. "At a minimum, that means the local markets in their respective states will need to be covered in any settlement," he said.

Ostrau added that the states also could help the federal regulators politically by providing "additional cover for taking an aggressive approach going forward."

In other developments Friday, lawyers for the companies and the Justice Department proposed dueling start dates for the opening of trial proceedings.

The companies, which have been seeking expedited court proceedings to resolve the matter quickly, proposed that the trial begin on Jan. 16, 2012. The Justice Department proposed that the trial start roughly two months later, on March 19, 2012. U.S.

District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle in Washington will hold an initial status conference in the case on Sept. 21. Huvelle has said the parties should be prepared during the hearing to discuss the prospects of a settlement in the case.

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