You Don't Go to Extra Innings if You're Losing
AT&T's lobbying and PR team amuses me to no end.
Regular readers of my blog will know that when AT&T mentioned to the FCC that it was working on new economic and engineering models meant to justify its anti-competitive takeover of T-Mobile, the Commission asked that AT&T submit those new models on July 25.
AT&T did that.
But since that time, AT&T has modified what they gave the Commission no fewer than seven times. It's like AT&T's lawyers can't agree on what to tell the FCC so they keep changing it -- over and over and over again.
So when Sprint pointed that out in a letter to the FCC, an AT&T spokesperson blew a gasket in comments to media.
“The data we've submitted to the FCC, including our economic and engineering models, provide compelling proof of the enormous benefits from this deal," an AT&T spokesperson said. "Sprint doesn’t like the facts, so it’s asking the Commission to ignore them. This is yet one more sign that Sprint, lacking any data of its own to refute our filings, is flailing.”
Ha! Sprint is "flailing" because we dare to point out that AT&T has blown off an FCC deadline and has modified its homework seven times after turning it in? Sprint is "flailing" because it asked questions about the rationale behind the models and urged the Commission to do the same? Seriously?
Is that really what AT&T thinks, that FCC rules don't apply to the company and that anyone who questions it is "flailing"?
Please.
If you ask me AT&T is has been unable to convince the FCC that the T-Mobile takeover is a good idea -- that's why they offered these new economic and engineering models in the first place. (Think about it. If the original application was doing the job, why in the world would they have introduced something new this far into the regulatory review?)
My sense is that internally AT&T is now realizes what others have been saying for some time is true: the government isn't going to approve this stinker of a deal.
AT&T is like a losing baseball team in the 9th inning that doesn't realize that you don't go into extra innings unless the score is tied.
Maybe when the FCC has called that last out, and the rest of all go home, AT&T will admit that spending $3.8 billion to provide 4G to rural America makes a lot more sense for its shareholders than spending $39 to takeover T-Mobile.
Time will tell.
