Tracking huge corporate acquisitions can feel at times like stepping into the Twilight Zone, and it looks like AT&T’s $39 billion agreement to purchase T-Mobile USA will be no exception.
AT&T, which has famously battled with Verizon over the quality and size of their respective networks, is including this slide in the supporting materials for a conference call on the deal this morning — part of a broader attempt make the case for the T-Mobile deal from a competitive standpoint.
Look familiar? Yep, it’s the same Verizon map that AT&T famously disputed in ads and the courtroom.
AT&T’s contention now is that the U.S. wireless industry can withstand its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile because the market is already “fiercely competitive.” Here’s the overview slide from the presentation.
Among other things, AT&T is appealing to the national loyalties of regulators and customers in making the case for the deal. Reads one point from an AT&T fact sheet on the deal: “German-owned T-Mobile — the only major foreign-controlled U.S. telecom network —becomes part of a U.S.-based company and the only major U.S. wireless company with a union workforce.”
AT&T is clearly prepping for a big regulatory battle over the next year, and it will be interesting, to say the least, to see how this one turns out.
Previously: Exclusive: T-Mobile USA CEO to employees: Sale to AT&T the ‘best possible solution’
Todd Bishop of GeekWire can be followed on Twitter and Facebook.
