By Donald Evans, ComLawBlog, March 31, 2014
FCC approval of AT&T acquisition of Leap Wireless reduces roster of nationwide carriers by 20%.
The FCC has taken another giant step toward reconstitution of the old Ma Bell monopoly by approving AT&T's acquisition of Leap Wireless, which operates nationally under the Cricket brand. Leap was the fifth largest facilities-based wireless carrier in the U.S., so it was surprising that the proposal for it to become part of the second largest carrier elicited so little opposition from anti-trust regulators, the public interest community, or even the remaining smaller competing carriers. The deal received little more than a shrug from the FCC's Eighth Floor, which let the Wireless Bureau, rather than the commissioners themselves, resolve the matter. This curious lack of high level interest contrasted sharply with the strong signals from federal regulators that any move by Sprint to acquire T-Mobile (Number Three buying Number Four) would be regarded with extreme disfavor. How come Number Two buying Number Five didn't even merit a glance?
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Neal McLain