Dropped Deal

FCC says AT&T; merger would boost prices

In late November, the Federal Communications Commission all but nixed AT&T;'s $39 billion bid for wireless rival T-Mobile. In a 109-page report, the FCC argued that the deal, which the Justice Department also challenged, would curtail innovation, raise prices and eliminate jobs. Not so, said AT&T.; Consumers in the U.S. pay less per minute for cell-phone use than those elsewhere. But that's thanks to unlimited-calling plans and the fact that Americans are cell-phone addicts. And what carrier introduced unlimited plans? T-Mobile.

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