The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) move to stop the marriage of AT&T and T-Mobile heartens me, but we’ll still have to wait to see how it all plays out in the courts.
I saw a headline in The Wall Street Journal that described the DOJ’s legal blocking maneuver as a “triumph of law over politics.” I wholeheartedly agree. AT&T thought that spreading money around Washington would get the merger approved. Thankfully, that was not the case.
AT&T wanted to buy off politicians and create a shared monopoly to the great harm and detriment of the American people. Their designs for T-Mobile would have demolished competition in one of the most vigorous, innovative areas of the U.S. economy.
This is a company that is not to be trusted. Documents that AT&T “accidentally” leaked show the whole rationale about how the merger would improve their network was a ruse; they just wanted to be able to squash competition all along. Those documents were the last nail in the coffin of their phony claims.
From here, this issue goes to the courts and we’ll see what happens. But this is momentarily a great victory.
AT&T has been on my bad boy list because of new cram charges they put in place on the landline side of their business. They have these terribly high junk fees they recently pushed through with virtually no notice (except for mice type legalese) if you get local phone service from them.
If you are an AT&T landline customer, go through your bills with a fine tooth comb. If you find this fee, which works out to be just under $5 a month, call 1-800-288-2020 and tell them you want to remove long distance service from your bill.
AT&T is a company that once had a proud tradition, but it’s now in the hands of leadership that needs a moral and ethical check-up.
