AT&T to give up 7 markets, Cellular One brand to seal Dobson sale

The Justice Department said AT&T Inc. agreed to sell assets in seven rural markets and forgo rights to the Cellular One brand to win approval of the company’s $2.8 billion purchase of Dobson Communications Corp.
“The required divestitures will preserve competition for residents in rural areas in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas and ensure that these consumers continue to enjoy the benefits of competition, such as lower prices and higher quality,” said Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the department’s antitrust division. AT&T is the largest cellphone carrier in the United States.
At the same time, however, the Justice Department today also filed in federal court a lawsuit to block the deal and a proposed consent decree. The consent decree addresses the department’s antitrust concerns, which would allow the transaction to go forward under those conditions. The U.S. district judge has to approve the decree.
The department said the “divestiture of the Cellular One brand and associated rights will ensure continued competition in two markets in Pennsylvania and Texas where a Cellular One licensee is the primary wireless competitor to AT&T. Without the divestiture, AT&T would have had the incentive and ability to harm competition by limiting and eliminating the Cellular One licensee’s ability to use the brand effectively.”
DoJ coordinated the review of the wireless deal with the Federal Communications Commission, which is expected shortly to approve the transaction with the same conditions.