The U.S. government has sued to block AT&T's proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, insisting that the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the mobile-carrier market. The Justice Department filed the antitrust complaint today in federal court. T-Mobile is a more affordable rival to AT&T and ranks fourth in the wireless market; AT&T ranks second. Should regulators win the suit, AT&T must pay T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom $3 billion as part of an earlier agreement.
