Despite continued struggles, Deutsche Telekom remains committed to selling its USA T-Mobile unit to AT&T, and AT&T is still trying to find a way to make the merger work that will get it approved by regulators.

San Diego mergers and acquisitions attorneys note that the companies had filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission seeking approval to transfer T-Mobile's wireless spectrum license from Deutsche Telecom to AT&T. The companies withdrew this request last week. But although it seems like the latest, and most crippling, episode of the two companies' merger attempts, both companies remain optimistic that the deal will eventually go through.

Part of the two companies' plan going forward is for AT&T to acquire T-Mobile's wireless spectrum and then sell it to the growing wireless communications company Leap Wireless. AT&T's hope is that bolstering one of its lower competitors -- Leap Wireless would overtake T-Mobile as the fourth-leading wireless communications business in the United States -- will be enough to ease concerns over a potential antitrust lawsuit.

If AT&T is allowed to take on T-Mobile's entire wireless spectrum, some experts believe it will significantly weaken the market competition and punish consumers most severely, leading to higher rates and worse service.

Mergers and antitrust regulation have become stickier under the Obama administration than they were under George W. Bush. Corporations now have to put more effort into ensuring that deals will not knock their commercial market out of competitive balance.

AT&T has a large stake in finishing this deal, though; if the merger falls through, AT&T will owe Deutsche Telekom a $4 billion break-up fee.

Source: CBS "AT&T's last-ditch effort to save T-mobile deal" Nov. 29, 2011