WASHINGTON -- On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission restarted its shot clock for the AT&T–T-Mobile merger review. The announcement follows the submission of AT&T’s fourth and final revision of its economic models on which it is basing its case for the T-Mobile acquisition.

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

"We’re glad the FCC won't be giving AT&T a fifth shot at manipulating its economic model. No matter how many tries AT&T gets, however, nothing can change the fact that the case for this merger is unraveling. Free Press and others have consistently demonstrated the substantial flaws in the prior models, and all the evidence shows AT&T does not need to take over T-Mobile to compete fairly in the wireless marketplace. If the Department of Justice and the FCC base their decisions about this merger solely on the evidence, we fully expect this disastrous anti-competitive and job-killing proposal will be swiftly rejected."