Qwest blasts SBC-AT&T deal

Having gone toe-to-toe with Verizon and won--at least temporarily--Qwest announced Monday that it is also taking on SBC Communications.

The company said it would file comments with the Federal Communications Commission in opposition to SBC's acquisition of AT&T. Qwest has already filed objections to the merger with the California Public Utilities Commission.

In its FCC filing, Qwest will argue that that $17 billion merger is anti-competitive and should only be permitted under certain restrictions.

"The combination of SBC and AT&T as proposed would set our industry back years," said Steve Davis, Qwest senior vice president of public policy, in a printed statement. "SBC proposes to acquire its largest competitor and greatest strategic threat. It is inconceivable that this transaction could be in the public interest without the imposition of significant conditions and required divestitures."

Qwest will ask the FCC to force SBC to sell significant overlapping operations and be subject to conditions that will provide competitors with access to wholesale facilities they previously bought from AT&T.