AT&T – T-Mobile Merger: Wall Street Journal Editorial Gets It Wrong; Wall Street Journal News Report Gets It Right

Does the Editorial Board Even Read the Newspaper?

AT&T has proposed a merger/acquisition with T-Mobile which will make AT&T the largest mobile phone company in the nation.  For several months the Anti-Trust Division of the Justice Department has been looking at the transaction.  This week they decided to file suit in Federal Court to block the merger.



What AT&T Hopes to Become in Cell Phones



The merits of the merger are significant, and the threat to competition is also significant. The decision of the Justice Department to seek a resolution in court seems like the reasonable decision.  Given the strong arguments on both sides, having those arguments in a Court of law is the best possible resolution.  A decision on the merits of the merger vs. the destruction to competition, made by an independent judge is the way things are settled in this country.

The radical Conservative editors at the Wall Street Journal don’t see things that way.  They see a government conspiracy against business for political and ideological purposes.

Justice also wants influence over who can buy which telecom assets, and how big telecom companies can be. This ignores the benefits of economies of scale in an industry that requires huge investments to compete

And even the fact that the Justice Department is willing to negotiate with AT&T is proof of the political issue.



See WSJ - In a Dispute We Let the Courts
Decide - Sorry, That What America Does

The political interpretation of Justice's actions was borne out yesterday when acting antitrust chief Sharis Pozen said that "our door is open" to AT&T if the company wants to resolve the government's "concerns." In other words, do our bidding on some regulatory or political business, and you can still get your merger.

The really idiotic part of the rant though is that the Journal quotes political pressure in favor of the merger to substantiate that opposition to the merger is political.

even the labor-exploiting capitalists at the AFL-CIO, the Communications Workers of America and the Teamsters support the merger

Buried later in the paper is the factual story about the merger, how the reality is that Justice is ignoring politics and taking the legal position on the merger.  The news headline

On AT&T, U.S. Chooses Law Over Politics

And the story’s conclusion

AT&T's problem is that the legal issues aren't on its side. Antitrust lawyers had said in recent days that the company's chances of winning approval rested on political issues trumping legal concerns. The fact that the government challenged—months earlier than observers had expected—demonstrates that the legal issues won the day.

So no Wall Street Journal editorial writers, your own newspaper has the facts and analysis that proves you wrong.  If you were capable of embarrassment, you would have a severe case of it.