FCC official: no way AT&T T-Mobile deal will go unaltered

An anonymous FCC official said that the proposed AT&T buyout of T-Mobile would very likely go through major changes if it were to be approved at all.

He was careful to note the deal hadn't yet been under formal investigation but was confident FCC chair Julius Genachowski would either require conditions or ban the deal. The WSJ didn't learn which of the two was the more likely but was told a greenlight was a virtual impossibility. "There's no way the chairman's office rubber-stamps this transaction," the FCC staffer said. "It will be a steep climb to say the least."