I was struck by one particular statement in the Justice Department’s announcement that it was blessing the AT&T/Bellsouth megamerger on Wednesday. After a “thorough” investigation of the deal, Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett said, Justice’s antitrust division had concluded “this transaction is not likely to harm consumer welfare.”

The announcement sure made the department’s investigation sound impressive, saying “the (Antitrust) Division thoroughly examined all areas in which the two companies currently compete –including residential local and long distance service, telecommunications services provided to business customers, and Internet services –and also considered the merger’s impact on future competition for wireless broadband services.”

A closer reading of the announcement is not nearly as reassuring for consumers – particularly residential telecom and Internet customers. It appears nearly all of the information the Justice Department used to make its decision came from – wait for it – “extensive information obtained from the merging parties and from industry participants.”

Not all telecom customers were ignored by the antitrust watchdogs at Justice, however. The announcement says “business customers” were interviewed about everything from local private lines to Internet services.