Senator Kohl says AT&T deal should be blocked

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Herb Kohl, chair of the U.S. Senate's antitrust subcommittee, urged reviewing agencies to block AT&T's (T.N) deal to buy T-Mobile.

In a letter sent to the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission, Kohl said that the deal "would likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies."

The letter, which was sent on Wednesday, notes in particular that the deal would eliminate the low-price competitor, T-Mobile, from the market.

T-Mobile USA is a unit of Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE).

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)