Dallas-based AT&T said Monday that they have ended their $39 billion bid to acquire T-Mobile USA.
AT&T began talks with Deutsche Telekom AG in March of this year to buy the carrier, largely because of the additional spectrum they could provide to AT&T's wireless customers.
The purchase was blocked by the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission on antitrust grounds.
AT&T said the actions by the government to block the deal do not change the challenges facing the wireless industry with respect to a lack of airwaves.
“AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO in a news release Monday. “Over the past four years we have invested more in our networks than any other U.S. company. As a result, today we deliver best-in-class mobile broadband speeds – connecting smartphones, tablets and emerging devices at a record pace – and we are well under way with our nationwide 4G LTE deployment."
AT&T said they will continue to develop broadband technologies amid a spectrum shortage.
“To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest,” Stephenson said. “However, adding capacity to meet these needs will require policymakers to do two things. First, in the near term, they should allow the free markets to work so that additional spectrum is available to meet the immediate needs of the U.S. wireless industry, including expeditiously approving our acquisition of unused Qualcomm spectrum currently pending before the FCC. Second, policymakers should enact legislation to meet our nation’s longer-term spectrum needs.
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“The mobile Internet is a dynamic industry that can be a critical driver in restoring American economic growth and job creation, but only if companies are allowed to react quickly to customer needs and market forces,” Stephenson said.
Had the purchase been approved, the merger would have made AT&T the largest wireless carrier in the U.S.
