T AT&T Inc

By Brent Kendall and Drew FitzGerald 

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department and AT&T Inc. traded blows in a courtroom Thursday as a federal judge opened proceedings on whether the telecom giant's planned purchase of Time Warner Inc. violates antitrust laws.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said little while the government and the companies spent about 90 minutes of opening arguments attempting to tear apart each other's legal positions.

The Justice Department, which is seeking to block the $85 billion deal, said the merger could mean at least $400 million in pay-TV price increases because AT&T, which owns the DirecTV satellite service, would have newfound marketplace leverage if it also were to own Time Warner's stable of programming, including the Turner networks and HBO.

"If the merger goes forward, consumers all across America will be worse off as a result," said Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath.

AT&T and Time Warner lawyer Daniel Petrocelli called the government's claims "preposterous" and "dead wrong," saying the case was simple because the DOJ couldn't offer proof that the deal would lessen competition.

"It is a case where there is only one just, clear-cut outcome," Mr. Petrocelli said.

The fireworks came on the first official day of a trial that could take six to eight weeks.

People lined up in snow-covered D.C. in the wee hours Thursday morning for a chance to witness the start of the proceedings. The crowd filled two courtrooms and included the companies' chief executives, AT&T's Randall Stephenson and Time Warner's Jeff Bewkes, as well as U.S. antitrust chief Makan Delrahim.

The proceedings will continue Thursday afternoon with the government calling its first witness, an official with cable provider Cox Communications.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2018 15:33 ET (19:33 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.