consumers. at&t officials say they needed the merger to expand their network and increase coverage for folks in rural areas and congested cities like new york. anyone who has used an iphone in midtown manhattan can tell us those upgrades cannot come soon enough. the fox business network s peter barnes is live in d.c. tonight. exactly why did this deal fall through? the companies disconnected because of that strong opposition from the justice department and the fec. they agreed with some consumer groups that said allowing the merger of the second and fourth largest wireless companies would reduce competition, raise prices and limit services. but critics said blocking the deal will be the worst for customers. it will be higher prices and actually less competition because you won t have at&t coming in with a new part of its network more efficient forcing prices to go down and verizon, sprint, the nextel system.