AT&T & T-Mobile Mulling Joint Venture If Acquisition Deal Falls Apart

Judging from all the rumors, it seems like that AT&T is looking at all of its remaining options in light of its withdrawn attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA from parent company Deutsche Telekom AG. Wall Street Journal gives us the latest possible scenario, which is the possibility of AT&T and Deutsche Telekom teaming up together for a joint venture should the acquisition deal ultimately fall apart. And this would be apparently be a partnership that would entail the two telecom giants pooling their infrastructure together.

As AT&T's planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA faces rising opposition from the FCC, which has stated that the merger would lead to significant job loss, negligible cost savings passed on to consumers, overestimated efficiences, and that the lack of evidence that AT&T couldn't provide more than 80% LTE coverage without the merger. Well then, the FCC doesn't sound like they're much of a fan of any kind of contact between the AT&T and T-Mobile USA.

The potential panacea to all problems telecom? According to WSJ, a joint venture between the two companies could help solve some of the wireless-capacity impediments both companies are expected to face in the oncoming years while also being to avoid the industry competitive issues brought up by the Justice Department. Analysts have also suggested that two companies could jointly use the T-Mobile spectrum that AT&T have had their eyes on while Deutsche Telekom retains its T-Mobile customers.

[via Wall Street Journal]