Phone and Internet provider AT&T has announced its latest financial results for the quarter that ended on June 30. In this morning"s press release the company said that it brought in $31.5 billion in revenue in the last quarter, up 2.2 percent from the same period a year ago. The results were higher than expected from financial analysts. AT&T said that it has added 1.1 million subscribers to its wireless service in the last quarter bringing AT&T"s total number of subscribers to 98.6 million.
In related news, AT&T"s proposed merger with the US"s number four wireless carrier T-Mobile is still several months away, if it happens at all. Earlier this week the Washington Post reported that US Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, the leading Democrat in the Senate on anti-trust issues, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing his opposition to the AT&T-T-Mobile merger. He stated that the deal, if approved by the FCC, would result in AT&T and its main rival Verizon Wireless in control of 80 percent of the US mobile phone market.
He added, "I have concluded that this acquisition, if permitted to proceed, would likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies." Also on Wednesday the FCC decided to extend the review of the merger. The Wall Street Journal reports that "the delay was necessary because AT&T is relying on new economic models in support of the proposed merger."