The states involved are Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. They want to know about customer habits (such as how often subscribers change to a new provider) in order to gauge the deal's competitive implications and, ultimately, the effect on consumers.
It's the latest escalation of scrutiny of the merger. The regulatory hurdles are already high for this deal, but there are bound to be more down the track, as we've reported here:
- AT&T Takes the Oath on T-Mobile Merger
- Regulatory Scrutiny Escalates for AT&T/T-Mobile
- AT&T/T-Mobile: Riddled With Regulatory Risk
- CTIA 2011: AT&T & T-Mobile: Net Neutrality Concerns
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile
I'm surprised there are just nine states asking for data.
The comments Bloomberg reported from different state's attorney general offices aren't very revealing about the states' specific concerns with the merger. For one, though, it's just a matter of common sense: “It’s hard to see how four companies going down to three, basically less competition, would benefit consumers” -- that's from a spokesman for Minnesota's Attorney General in the article.