Better to be thought a fool...

With the FCC circulating an order approving AT&T’s acquisition of BellSouth unconditionally, it begs the question of what the Department of Justice is doing. In the midst of a Tunney Act review of its previous approval of SBC’s acquisition of AT&T and Verizon’s acquisition of MCI, Justice has not concluded its review of AT&T’s acquisition of BellSouth. Yet the FCC is apparently prepared to issue a decision approving the acquisition as early as October 12th.

Normally the FCC would wait for Justice to conclude its review before issuing its own decision. So, is the FCC Chairman really going to issue a decision in advance of Justice? Does the Chairman know something the rest of us don’t about Justice’s plans? Is Justice going to do anything? In light of the Tunney Act review of the previous two mega-mergers, Justice could either (a) wait for the review to conclude and incorporate the findings of the review into its decision for AT&T/BellSouth, or (b) do nothing and let the merger go without bringing a case. To issue a decision prior to the conclusion of the Tunney Act review of its previous two cases would strike me as somewhat irresponsible so I really think these are the only two options before Justice.

And considering the meager remedy they sought in the previous two mergers, I think Justice would actually look silly asking for even more meager conditions in the face of an even larger merger. Given the choice between doing nothing and doing something wholly inadequate, they may have determined it is better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to make their case and remove all doubt (my apologies to Mark Twain).