Today was the day that the U.S. Department of Justice and AT&T met with Judge Ellen S. Huvelle to discuss scheduling for the legal battle between the two sides and possibly work out a settlement. Unsurprisingly, no settlement was reached, so the judge has set February 13th, 2012, as the trial date for the DOJ's suit against AT&T. AT&T tried to get an earlier date (January 16th) for the start of the trial so that it and Deutsche Telekom would know sooner whether or not its deal would be approved and to reduce investor impatience, but the judge denied AT&T's request. A total of six weeks has been set aside for the trial, although lawyers for both the DOJ and AT&T believe that that much time won't be needed.
There was also a bit of news concerning Sprint's suit against AT&T today, as Judge Huvelle denied the request to consolidate the Sprint and DOJ cases. A hearing for AT&T's arguments concerning a possible dismissal of Sprint's suit has been set for October 24th.
Considering that there was no mention of any settlement during today's meeting with the Justice Department and AT&T, it doesn't sound like either side is ready to give up any ground in the battle just yet. The trial date for the case may be several months away, but we're sure to hear more from both sides before then, so stay tuned.
Via Phone Scoop, Reuters
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