AT&T Unlikely to Oppose T-Mobile/Sprint, CFO Says

AT&T is unlikely to have much to say on T-Mobile buying Sprint (see 1804300055), AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said Wednesday at a Cowen financial conference. “I don’t think you’ll see us opposing the transaction,” he said. “We’re really going to stay away from commenting other than that and kind of leave it to the regulators.” AT&T dropped its bid for T-Mobile in 2011 after running into regulatory roadblocks. Stephens said AT&T is poised to finalize its buy of Time Warner after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rules on DOJ’s challenge of the acquisition (see 1805300011), a decision expected June 12. “We’re ready to close” after the decision, Stephens said. “Everything is lined up with financing and so forth.” Stephens also said AT&T has sold FirstNet services to more than 600 public safety entities across 48 states. The carrier sees a potential market of 10 million devices on FirstNet, which doesn’t include service to power companies and other critical infrastructure companies, he said. “The ability to raise the quality of our network and the quality of our services to our existing 100 million customer base is really important.”