"Consumer Welfare" Will be Front and Center in DoJ Lawsuit

There are many possible "losers" and potential "winners" from the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit challenging the proposed AT&T purchase of T-Mobile USA. But Jerry Ellig of the Technology Liberation Front thinks one actual upside, from a consumer welfare angle, is the centrality of "consumer welfare" as the central issue.

"For once, the high-profile action everyone pays attention to will occur in an antitrust forum where the decision criterion is the effects of the merger on consumer welfare, period," says Ellis. "Regardless of what one thinks about the merger, it’s nice to see that we’ll finally have a knock-down, drag-out fight based on whether a big telecommunications merger harms consumers and competition."

"That’s the antitrust standard the Department of Justice has to satisfy in order to prevent the merger," and also is a central concern of economic thinking that drives thinking about antitrust regulation.

One good thing about DoJ challenge of AT&T purchase of T-Mobile USA