This merger received a little bit of coverage, but on the whole was overlooked by most tech sites and the mainstream press. We heard about it at MobileFocus back in February, but did not write too much about it as it was s rumor back then. Now things have changed, the merger is in the approval process with US Government agencies. They will be able to catch anything wrong or anti-consumer with this merger right?

Well according to Bursor & Fisher (the law firm that is working on the suit) AT&T is the largest corporate political contributor in the US. This makes them fear that due diligence will not be done. They have filed a request for arbitration on behalf of 11 AT&T customers (and are soliciting more). The reason for the request is two-fold. The first and biggest reason is that AT&T customers can no longer directly sue AT&T singly or as part of a class action (a decision by the Supreme Court that is also VERY anti-consumer). Because of this AT&T customers have to seek arbitration as their only recourse.  The second reason is that under the laws of arbitration each complaint has to be address individually. This increases the chances of a favorable outcome. Bursor & Fisher feel that this could be used to sway the regulators into stopping the merger.

Bursor and Fisher are not the only ones that are opposing the merger, Sprint has voiced its concerns and more than one senator is actively asking for the merger to be stopped. However, AT&T has been doing its homework and has managed to garner quite a bit of support for their side. Still the question remains, are the laws in the country, especially the anti-trust laws real? Or are they just nice things to talk about with no real substance behind them. I guess we will find out by the first quarter of next year when AT&T claims this merger will become fact.

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