In an attempted slick PR move, AT&T announced on Thanksgiving that the company is setting aside some cash just in case their deal with T-Mobile falls out. According to Stacy Cowley of CNNMoney.com, “AT&T said Thursday that it will take a $4billion accounting charge this quarter to cover part of the break-up fee it will owe, if its bid to acquire T-Mobile fails to gain regulatory approval”.
Back in March, AT&T and T-Mobile announced plans to merge. Doing so would make the new company the biggest cell carrier thus lowering the amount of competition in the cell carrier market. This fact has prompted some to oppose the merger including the Department of Justice. The article stated the DOJ “filed an antitrust lawsuit in August to block the merger” and two days ago, the Federal Communications Commission “[recommended] that AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile go to an administrative hearing”. With two government agencies in objection, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, owner of T-Mobile, has withdrawn their FCC applications.
Clearly, AT&T is prepared and probably expecting the worse. They figured by releasing their epiphany on Thanksgiving no one would notice. Unfortunately, their news is featured on almost every major business news outlet. It is a clear PR trick to release bad news on a holiday, (a certain politician did the same when announcing their resignation from office), but in the world of social media, news travels fast and quick, rarely hidden. AT&T and every business should think twice before using old school PR tactics in a new school social media world.
P.S.
For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, hope your day was great!
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