US number three operator Sprint said that a new economic model submitted to the Federal Communications Commission by AT&T, in justification of its planned merger with T-Mobile USA, is “a last-ditch attempt to distract regulators, politicians and consumers from the fact that it has failed to provide any evidence that its proposed takeover of T-Mobile yields meaningful benefits.” Separately, Reuters reports that Minnesota senator Al Franklin had said the transaction was not in the public interest, through “greatly reduced competition, the potential loss of thousands of jobs, higher consumer prices, and less innovation in technology.”