Well, lookie here. The FCC weighed in on the AT&T/T-Mobile Merger and ended up calling for an administrative hearing which would have forced AT&T to back up their claims that the merger would be good for the economy and would not stifle innovation. This is something that the FCC most certainly does have the power to do and in the end AT&T withdrew their merger request. I was not shocked to see all of this unfold and when the merger was announced I was wondering when the FCC (grinning all the way) would enact the powers that it does have.

Now just to add insult to injury (and to run things in a little) the FCC published its draft report that led them to request the hearing (it has recently been pulled off of the FCC site but you can find the Order here). AT&T’s chief counsel, Jim Cicconi made a statement saying “It has no force or effect under law, which raises questions as to why the FCC would choose to release it”. We know why it was released; to put it simply for Jim; the report was released to show that AT&T and others ambitions were (and for the most part are) counter to public and consumer good.

While the report may have only covered the concerns around the proposed merger that AT&T wanted, it was intended to show a corporate mindset as well. Sometimes it does not pay to spit in the face of the guy you might need help from in the future…

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