Judge extends merger review

AT&T and Verizon will have to wait until July 25 to find out if a federal judge will call new witnesses in his review of the mergers they closed months ago. During seven hours of testimony Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan appeared to be prepared to hear new testimony on whether the mergers are in the public interest, even though attorneys for AT&T, the Department of Justice and Verizon all argued this was unnecessary.

According to published reports, Sullivan repeatedly asked why he had not received more expert evidence to back up the DoJ and Federal Communications Commission findings that the mergers would not damage consumer access to competitive services.

Under changes to the Tunney Act made by Congress in 2004, Sullivan is required to review the mergers and the consent decree ordered by the DoJ in order for them to proceed. Merger opponents, including COMPTEL and a group called the Alliance for Competition in Telecommunications told the judge the original consent decree doesn’t go far enough to protect competition and consumers.

That decree required AT&T and Verizon to divest themselves of certain fiber optic facilities – those where AT&T and MCI had once been the only competitor to SBC and Verizon, respectively. Both AT&T and Verizon have actively sought and found buyers for those fiber optic facilities, which connect about 350 buildings.