AT&T Would Use Time Warner as a ‘Weapon,’ Justice Dept. Says<br />By CECILIA KANGMARCH 22, 2018<br />WASHINGTON — The much-watched antitrust trial between the Justice Department and AT&T began on Thursday, with opening statements<br />that presented starkly different visions for how the company’s blockbuster merger with Time Warner would fit into a media industry upturned by the internet.<br />Before a packed courtroom with some of the industry’s leading figures, the two sides zeroed in on the case’s central question: Whether<br />the deal would force consumers to pay more to watch their favorite shows on Time Warner cable channels like CNN and TNT.<br />The Justice Department, which is suing to block the $85 billion deal, argued<br />that AT&T, with its nationwide wireless and satellite TV business, could use Time Warner’s content as a “weapon” by raising the licensing fees those channels command.<br />He said the merger would do the opposite of what the government asserts: The company<br />would have no incentive to withhold Turner channels, which are owned by Time Warner.<br />The government said that Mr. Trump did not communicate with antitrust officials on the deal and<br />that their decision to oppose the merger had not been ordered by the White House.<br />“If the merger goes forward, consumers all across America will be worse off as a result,” said Craig Conrath, the Justice Department’s lead lawyer.<br />“The government’s theory is fundamentally stuck in the past,” said Daniel Petrocelli, the lead lawyer for AT&T and Time Warner.
