The Federal Communications Commission has issued a protective order on the documents regarding AT&T's proposed buyout of T-Mobile USA. The documents were submitted confidentially, but Sprint had requested access to them earlier this week.
"We adopt [these] procedures to provide more limited access to certain especially competitively sensitive information that may be filed in this proceeding, which, if released to competitors or those with whom the Submitting Party does business, would allow those persons to gain a significant advantage in the marketplace or in negotiations. We anticipate that such materials will be necessary to develop a more complete record on which to base the Commission's decision. While we are mindful of the highly sensitive nature of such information, we are also mindful of the right of the public to participate in this proceeding in a meaningful way," said the FCC in its statement regarding the matter.
The FCC has restricted access to the documents to the participants (AT&T and T-Mobile), their legal counsel, consultants and experts that they hire to aid them, and employees of the participating companies. It is very likely that the block on the documents will prevent Sprint from ever gaining access to them.
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