California is taking a close look at AT&T’s $39 billion bid for T-Mobile, with Bloomberg News reporting that the state’s Public Utilities Commission has held seven public discussions about the proposed buyout. According to Bloomberg, the state is particularly interested in how the tie-up would impact consumers and corporate customers.

Some have argued that T-Mobile — historically a lower-priced provider of wireless service — will raise prices once it becomes a part of AT&T.

There certainly have been other critics of the buyout, including Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and U.S. Senator Al Franken. In July, Franken echoed some of the concerns voiced in California, noting that the deal would hurt consumers.

“The merger of AT&T and T-Mobile would be a major step towards the creation of an entrenched duopoly in the wireless industry,” Franken wrote in a letter to the Justice Department and FCC.

California is supposed to make a formal decision about the merger this fall, with Bloomberg noting that it is highly unusual for states to throw up roadblocks to mergers in the wireless industry.

More on the issue here.

 

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