AT&T (NYSE:T) and Sprint (NYSE:S) continued to tango over the T-Mobile deal this past week as the very public legal took some new turns. In addition to the legal posturing that took place, Sprint lowered its prices on its data plans to help give new subscribers more of a reason to come on board following the company’s massive bet on the iPhone.

AT&T

The AT&T-Sprint public face-off turned uglier last week as AT&T filed a document with the FCC that spelled out discrepancies between what Sprint had been saying in public and what its private confidential documents revealed.^[1] AT&T had earlier won access to these documents as they were relevant to and essential in building up it’s defense against the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Sprint had publicly argued that AT&T has no spectrum constraints, and that the merger would give AT&T too much spectrum, cut jobs and hurt Sprint’s ability in procuring the best wireless handsets. AT&T, however, said Sprint’s confidential submissions reveal that Sprint holds the strongest spectrum position out of any U.S. provider and concedes that AT&T faces major spectrum constraints. Further, it said that Sprint admitted that it wasn’t at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing new handsets. We have already discussed how we thought the iPhone deal would hurt Sprint’s arguments against the deal. (See AT&T May Benefit the Most from Sprint’s iPhone Deal)

In other news, an AT&T executive said that its customers have remained loyal to its wireless service even as its competitors have started selling the iPhone. AT&T has been notorious for dropping calls and poor data speeds in metropolitan cities, which had led many to believe that current subscribers would flee the carrier for the more reliable Verizon or the unlimited data plans of Sprint. However, a recent report that AT&T has the lowest complaint rate among major carriers alleviated all such concerns.^[2] Lining up for the holiday season, the company will be selling the Kindle Touch 3G and giving away a free smartphone with every LTE Samsung GalaxyTab sold. AT&T is also in talks with Nokia and may be the first carrier to sell the Nokia Windows Phone.

See our complete analysis for AT&T stock here

Sprint

In a bid to position itself for the price sensitive subscriber as the holiday season approaches, Sprint cut the prices of its higher-data plans for its broadband customers.^[3] Sprint on Monday began charging $50 a month for 6GB of data downloads, as compared to the earlier $60 for 5GB. Verizon (NYSE:VZ) had earlier doubled its data plans as a promotional drive leading up to the holidays.

See our complete analysis for Sprint stock here

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