AT&T has issued a blistering response to Sprint’s attempt to get the state of West Virginia to open an investigation into its acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

In a response  sent last week to the state’s Public Utilities Commission, AT&T slammed Sprint for its lack of 4G coverage in West Virginia, saying the company had “virtually no presence” in the state.

“Sprint can hardly argue that the citizens of West Virginia should be denied access to the very high speed broadband service enabled by this merger when Sprint has chosen not to provide West Virginia broadband services of its own,” AT&T general counsel Robert Rodecker wrote the commission.

Sprint currently does not offer WiMAX service in West Virginia. AT&T has pledged to expand its LTE service in the state from what it had originally planned if its merger with T-Mobile is approved.

Sprint spokesman John Taylor shot back at AT&T.

“We think it’s surprising and really puzzling that AT&T is afraid of a public hearing,” Taylor said. “We don’t understand why AT&T is opposed to answering questions from the public in West Virginia. Perhaps it’s because West Virginians are against this transaction.”

Earlier this month, Sprint’s attorneys asked the West Virginia Public Utilities Commission to investigate AT&T’s massive $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile for its effect on the state’s consumers.