Why Did AT&T Diss T-Mobile With This Ad?

Wireless carriers AT&T (NYSE:T) and Deutsche Telekom’s (DTEGY.PK) T-Mobile were once very close. For example, back in 2011, the two companies were planning a merger, until the deal was tabled by the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S Justice Department.

But the highly-competitive nature of the wireless industry — along with the ruling by the FCC and the Justice Department — have pushed the two companies far apart. AT&T has used its dominance in the industry to put down its much smaller rival, which is now slated to join forces with MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) if shareholders approve, snubbing the smaller operator.

During the merger talks in 2011, the United States government explained that it had blocked the deal in order to protect the American consumer from anti-competitive practices to which industry consolidation can lead — but AT&T was still left with a spectrum problem. The rapidly-growing smartphone market in the United States has created a massive hunger for data, and in turn this has made carriers ravenous for more and more spectrum to support increased bandwidth use…