STEVE INSKEEP, host:
NPR's business news starts with the government hanging up on a big telephone merger.
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INSKEEP: Or maybe it was more of a dropped call. The Justice Department filed suit today to block AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile. Officials say combining the country's second and fourth-largest mobile phone carriers would be bad for competition.
The $39 million deal has been under scrutiny from lawmakers and consumer groups, and the number-three carrier, Sprint Nextel, objects. The government's decision to sue to block the merger comes despite AT&T's efforts to make it more politically palatable. Most recently, AT&T pledged to bring back thousands of call center jobs from overseas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
