Judge Postpones Sprint, C Spire Suits Against AT&T Deal

Lawsuits from Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and regional carrier C Spire Wireless against the AT&T Inc. (T) merger with T-Mobile USA were postponed by a federal judge Tuesday, one day after she delayed a Justice Department lawsuit against the $39 billion deal. U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle put on hold any court proceedings until Jan. 18, while AT&T weighs the future of the deal, which has been opposed by the Justice Department, Federal Communications Commission and several wireless companies. AT&T said Monday that it is considering "whether and how" to proceed with the proposed merger, which needs both FCC and DoJ approval to move forward. AT&T and T-Mobile representatives were unavailable for immediate comment Tuesday. Both Sprint and C Spire sued to block the deal, citing the potential for it to raise consumers' prices and damage competition. AT&T has said a takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGY, DTE.XE) is necessary to bring wireless broadband to more Americans. AT&T and T-Mobile also asked the California Public Utilities Commission to postpone its investigation into the merger until after the Jan. 18 hearing in federal court. The CPUC has held hearings on the deal and could rule it anticompetitive in the state or request further divestitures. "The best course is to suspend further actions in this proceeding as well, pending future developments," AT&T and T-Mobile said in their request in California. AT&T recently added 16 cents to $29.17.