A U.S. judge set a Feb. 13 start for a trial over whether AT&T Inc (T.N) can purchase rival T-Mobile USA despite competitive concerns raised in a lawsuit by the Obama administration's Justice Department. U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle set aside 6 weeks for the non-jury trial. There was no discussion during the 80-minute scheduling hearing of any settlement of the case. The Justice Department sued last month to block AT&T's $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), for fear it would raise prices for consumers and hamper competition and innovation. The trial date falls between the government's request to begin March 19 and AT&T's petition for a Jan. 16 date. Lawyers for the parties said the matter was unlikely to need six weeks.
AT&T Inc. is a holding company. The Company is a provider of telecommunications services in the United States and worldwide. Shares of T fell by 1.91% or $-0.55/share to $28.30. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $27.20 and as high as $31.94. On average, 30607200 shares of T exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 24935870.
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