AT&T CEO weighs in on Sprint/T-Mobile deal

"It will probably get a different review than our deal," he said. "Power to them if they get it done."

Meanwhile: AT&T, of course, is busy trying to win approval of its own deal to buy Time Warner, which the Department of Justice has sued to prevent.

Stephenson talked up the benefits of marrying content and distribution, but declined to say what his fallback plan might be if that deal gets blocked.

"I don’t even want to go there," he said. "The judge has asked us to be very cautious. That answer might have implications to how people view the deal."