The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice – the two major federal agencies that will examine the proposed $39 billion merger – must decide if the combination is in the public interest. That is, they will have to weigh competition against access: whether it’s better to have more competition in a highly concentrated industry or expanded broadband technology in rural and smaller communities, as AT&T argues.
“I think the Department of Justice is going to give this merger a very hard review,” says Sean Griffith, a professor of business law at Fordham Law School in New York. “The level of scrutiny will be substantial.”
