WASHINGTON-The Justice Department said antitrust czar Hewitt Pate will resign next month, creating a vacancy amid a pending $35 billion merger between Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. and other large telecom deals.
“It has been a great honor to serve under President Bush and Attorneys General [John] Ashcroft and [Alberto] Gonzales during my tenure at the Justice Department,” said Pate, whose last day with Justice is set for June 30.
Under Pate, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. was required to divest various licenses of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as a condition for government approval of the $41 billion acquisition in 2004.
Consumer groups and others are urging telecom regulators to compel Sprint and Nextel to sell certain 2.5 GHz broadband wireless holdings as a prerequisite to okaying the proposed $35 billion transaction.
Pate’s successor likely will have the final word on the Sprint-Nextel deal, SBC Communications Inc.’s proposed $16 billion purchase of AT&T Corp., and Verizon Communications Inc.’s $8.5 billion offer for MCI Inc.
Pate served as acting assistant attorney general for antitrust from November 2002 until his confirmation in June 2003. Pate replaced ex-Justice antitrust chief Charles James, a former attorney at the Jones Day law firm. One published report said the next head of antitrust at the Justice Department might again come from Jones Day.
