On Thursday, AT&T responded to the Federal Communications Commission’s staff report on the proposed T-Mobile takeover, calling the report unfair and one-sided.

To the contrary, the report found that AT&T’s claims about investment and jobs were inflated, and that the merger would cause serious harms to consumers and competition. Free Press sent a letter to the FCC last week, in advance of the staff report, debunking AT&T’s jobs claims.

Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner made the following statement:

"It’s baffling that AT&T is choosing to double down on its now-proven lies about job creation, investment and competition in the face of the FCC's meticulous and unimpeachable analysis of this merger. Ma Bell is used to getting its way, and when it doesn't, it lashes out with false claims and destructive rhetoric.

"The simple fact here is AT&T's own words hung them. The FCC’s report is a detailed account of the evidence submitted by AT&T, and it is laughable for AT&T to call it an advocacy piece. Anyone who has access to the confidential information has long known the truth. No matter how much AT&T's top lobbyist tries to convince the press and the public otherwise, the FCC, the Justice Department and Judge Huvelle have the truth about this disastrous merger right in front of them.”