A status hearing on the Department of Justice's case against AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile has been pushed to Dec. 9, according to court filings.
In a brief notice, Judge Ellen S. Huvelle cited a court "scheduling conflict" for the delay. The two sides were originally scheduled to meet in a D.C. district court on Nov. 30. They will now face off at 10am on Dec. 9.
The two sides last met in late October, when Judge Huvelle heard arguments concerning Sprint and C Spire's lawsuits against the merger. She later allowed certain portions of the rivals' cases to proceed.
The change comes several days after some Thanksgiving Day drama surrounding the proposed $39 billion merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. AT&T pulled its merger application from the Federal Communications Commission after FCC chairman Julius Genachowski recommended that the case be referred to an administrative law judge. AT&T said it would instead focus its efforts on the DOJ case and would pursue FCC approval "as soon as practical."
In pulling its case from the FCC, however, AT&T will incur a $4 billion charge, or "breakup fee."
AT&T later issued another statement arguing that the FCC could not stop it from pulling its merger application from the commission and pledged to "immediately challenge in court" any efforts to stop the move.
The FCC chairman's recommendation was basically a rejection of the deal. Technically, the FCC cannot block a transaction; it can only approve, approve with conditions, or refer to an administrative law judge. In reviewing the deal, the commission found that a combined AT&T and T-Mobile would result in unprecedented concentration and massive layoffs, FCC officials said.
The DOJ reached a similar conclusion—hence the lawsuit intended to stop the merger. That case officially goes to trial in February, if things stay on schedule.
Also on Monday, Bloomberg reported that chairman Genachowski alerted AT&T that the FCC would recommend an administrative law review on Nov. 22, the same day the commission announced its decision to the press. Genachowski spoke to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and Rene Obermann, CEO of T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom.
For more, see AT&T and T-Mobile: What's Next? Also check out the slideshow below, which chronicles some of the biggest tech-related antitrust suits.