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AT&T: Merger Approval on Track

AT&T says it is on track to receive regulatory approval of its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA by March 2012.

AT&T General Counsel Wayne Watts said that the company has provided a second round of information requested by the Department of Justice and that meetings with the Federal Communications Commission are going as scheduled, the Washington Post reported.

The number one question I get from investors is can we get (the deal) done,” Watts said. I think we can.”

The merger has drawn plenty of opposition and support.

AT&T and T-Mobile USA have cited a spectrum crunch as one of the compelling reasons for the deal, although critics including Sprint have questioned that reasoning.

In a recent statement, a T-Mobile USA executive asserted that opponents of the merger have failed to offer any credible arguments to support their view that the Commission [FCC] should deny the transaction.”

What is surprising, however, is their repeated head-in-the-sand insistence that no spectrum crisis exists,” said Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile USAs senior vice president of government affairs.