General comments from the Department of Justice, culminating...

General comments from the Department of Justice, culminating in remarks by Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer Thursday (CD Jan 31 p14), sound an “ominous” note on the prospects for how regulators would view a Sprint/T-Mobile deal, Stifel Nicolaus said Friday in a research note. “We believe DOJ has been sending an increasingly ominous message about a possible Sprint/T-Mobile merger, starting with broad DOJ comments last year about preferring a wireless market with four national carriers,” Stifel said. “We believe that Sprint/T-Mobile could fight DOJ opposition in court, but their efforts could be complicated by potential resistance from the FCC -- as were AT&T/T-Mobile’s -- and this time the FCC has the added incentive of wanting to ensure the four national wireless carriers bid in upcoming spectrum auctions."