This story has been updated with comment from AT&T.
Sprint has been subpoenaed by nine state attorney generals for information about AT&T’s buyout of T-Mobile USA, according to a letter to the FCC dated June 28.
Attorney generals in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, as well as the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, have filed subpoenas and civil investigation demands asking Sprint to provide them with unredacted copies of the same documents the wireless operator provided to the FCC about the AT&T deal.
AT&T has been handed the same subpoenas.
“Not unexpectedly, some state attorneys general have sought information about our merger, and we have responded in an appropriate and timely manner to such requests,” the company said in an e-mail.
Sprint did not disclose the information request in the FCC’s docket for AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile. Instead, the operator filed the letter under the agency’s docket for the disclosure of numbering resource utilization and forecast reports and carrier-specific local number portability data, which will be provided to the state attorney generals to comply with the subpoenas.
The subpoenas suggest an increased level of scrutiny from state officials over AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile. Though the fate of the merger ultimately sits with the FCC and Justice Department, opposition from states could complicate and delay the deal.
AT&T maintains that its buyout of T-Mobile will close in the first quarter of next year, about 12 months after the deal was first announced.
Filed Under: Industry regulations
