Sprint sues AT&T to block T-Mobile acquisition

Less than a week after the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against telecom giant AT&T Inc. to block its merger with low-priced rival T-Mobile USA, Sprint Nextel Corp. has filed its own suit against the company.

(More from GlobalPost: U.S. files antitrust suit to block AT&T takeover of T-Mobile)

Sprint, the nation’s third-largest mobile carrier, seeks to stop the acquisition of T-Mobile, the fourth-largest mobile network, by AT&T, the No. 2 wireless carrier, for $39 billion. Sprint filed its suit in federal court as a case related to the Justice Department's effort to stop the takeover.

According to PC Magazine:

Sprint's 68-page complaint, filed Tuesday in the District Court of D.C., rehashes all its past arguments against the merger: that it would hike prices for consumers; that it would give AT&T and T-Mobile more than 75 percent of the wireless market; that AT&T would have too much influence over government-controlled spectrum; and that AT&T would be better served by spending its billions improving its own network rather than eliminating the competition.

Sprint has asked the federal court to block the merger, prevent the two parties from merging in the future, and force AT&T to pay for Sprint's litigation fees (for bringing up the lawsuit).

Sprint itself tried and failed to buy T-Mobile earlier this year, the New York Times reports, and was one of the first and biggest opponents to the T-Mobile deal. Sprint commissioned its own study to squelch AT&T’s claims that it would bring back 5,000 call-center jobs and preserve 25,000 existing jobs with the deal.

AT&T has other arguments for why the merger should be allowed to occur, according to the Wall Street Journal:

AT&T has argued that the merger would allow it to bring high-speed wireless service to more Americans at a lower cost. The carrier, which is based in Overland Park, Kan., faces the prospect of paying a roughly $6 billion breakup fee to T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG if the deal doesn't get regulatory approval.

Christopher Sprigman, a University of Virginia School of Law professor and former counsel in the Justice Department's antitrust division, told the Wall Street Journal that "Sprint seems to be adding an additional suit as insurance" if the government fails to halt the merger. Sprigman told the newspaper he expected the court to put a stay on the Sprint suit while it hears the government's case. "But if the government were to settle with AT&T on terms that Sprint doesn't like, this suit could be used to protest that," he said.