AT&T CEO: Antitrust Claims Are 'Absurd'

AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told a judge the Justice Department’s antitrust claims against his company’s planned purchase of Time Warner Inc. were “absurd” and rejected the government’s arguments that the enlarged company would use its powers to raise prices, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In testimony Thursday in defense of his company’s proposed $85 billion acquisition, Stephenson called it a “vision deal” that is crucial for AT&T to compete in a rapidly shifting digital-media landscape.

Randall Stephenson

Taking the witness stand shortly after noon, the AT&T chief in a dark suit and blue tie explained his long history with the company and how he came to believe that AT&T, with its wireless and satellite assets, needed to own a media company like Time Warner, which owns the Turner networks, HBO and Warner Bros. studios.

Stephenson said AT&T was focused on growing so it could compete for advertising dollars with technology giants like Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google owner Alphabet Inc., rather than the traditional TV providers that vie for its customers today.

The Justice Department sued to block the deal in November, saying it would hurt consumers and competition by allowing AT&T to charge cable-TV rivals higher prices for Time Warner channels like TNT and CNN. Executives for both AT&T and Time Warner have said the government’s suit defies logic at a time when streaming services from Netflix Inc., Amazon and others offer consumers plenty of alternatives to traditional pay TV. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is deciding whether to allow the deal to go ahead.

The digital giants have become masters of keeping customers engaged on their platforms, including through the use of premium video, and AT&T wants to do the same, Mr. Stephenson said. To achieve that, “we need to own content,” he said.