AT&T could sell 25% of T-Mobile to sway feds in favor of acquisition

AT&T is prepared to make sacrifices in an effort to sway the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission in favor of its planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, Reuters reported on Friday. On August 31st, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against AT&T in attempt to block the merger, a move that is said to have caught both AT&T and T-Mobile USA’s owner, Deutsche Telekom, off-guard. “AT&T is pretty determined that they can find a solution, and they are pretty confident,” one source told Reuters, which noted AT&T’s “two-track” plan that includes possibly selling off as much as 25% of T-Mobile, including customers and spectrum, if the deal is approved. It is still unclear who could be a potential customer for the assets, however, as the government could investigate Sprint or Verizon Wireless if either carrier chose to purchase those assets. Reuters said U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle will preside over the case and said Huvelle is known for moving swiftly. AT&T has asked for an expedited hearing and the case could be heard within the next two months.

Read

BGR

T-Mobile Posts A Letter To Customers Then Removes It

Earlier today T-Mobile issue a letter to T-Mobile customers about the acquisition by AT&t and quickly removes it. I had the site loaded so was able to just read what they had to say.  The link is broken so am thinking they hit publish too early here is the directly link where the material came from.  It will be interesting to see how the companies do damage control with all the customers that aren’t necessarily happy with the acquisition whether the deal goes through or not.

 

T-Mobile letter to customers:

A Letter to Customers Regarding the AT&T Acquisition of T-Mobile USA March 25, 2011

Dear Valued T-Mobile Customers,

As you know, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have reached an agreement for AT&T to purchase T-Mobile USA.  The combined company will provide you with a world-class platform for mobile broadband innovation and growth.

Bringing together these two world-class businesses will create significant benefits for you. The merger will ensure the deployment of a robust 4G LTE network to 95% of the U.S. population, something neither company would achieve on its own in the timeframe that would be possible with this merger.

Also, because of our compatible networks and infrastructure, you will experience improved voice and data service almost immediately after the networks are integrated.

The transaction must go through a regulatory review and approval process. We expect the review to take approximately twelve months.

Until this deal is closed, T-Mobile remains as an independent competitor to AT&T. During this time, you will continue to receive the great service you have come to expect from T-Mobile and we remain committed to ensuring that you have the best experience possible using T-Mobile products and services.

It continues to be our pleasure and honor to provide you with America’s Largest 4G Network and one of the most unique and exciting lineups of smartphones and mobile data products in the industry. We can’t thank you enough for choosing T-Mobile, and we promise to continue earning your business every day.

Regards,

Jim Alling

Chief Operations Officer

T-Mobile USA, Inc.

via: br

AT&T buys T-mobile to create the new top dog in US wireless

On Sunday, Deutsche Telekom agreed to sell its T-Mobile USA property to AT&T to help AT&T create America’s largest mobile phone provider, trumping Verizon Wireless. The deal involves cash and stock and is currently valued at $39 billion.

The move also has larger global implications as Deutsche Telekom establishes a relationship with AT&T that makes the US provider a part of its global family of wireless carriers — similar to how Verizon is connected to Vodafone. How’s will work? Deutsche Telekom gets an executive seat on the AT&T board of directors and becomes a major shareholder in the company.

This move makes a lot more sense than the rumors earlier this month of Sprint buying T-Mobile. Even though both of those carriers needed a shot in the arm to compete with US wireless leaders AT&T and Verizon, the integration of the two companies would have been extremely difficult since both their 3G and 4G wireless networks are completely incompatible.

On the other hand, both AT&T and T-Mobile have similar GSM networks. Their 3G networks are based on different frequencies but both companies have been building faster networks based on HSPA+ so we should really look at this as a 4G move. The two companies have been badly trailing Verizon Wireless in 4G now that Verizon has aggressively begun rolling out LTE across the US. While HSPA+ isn’t as fast or as robust as LTE, the combined HSPA+ networks of AT&T and T-Mobile will give them a larger footprint than Verizon’s current LTE network.

Of course, integration still takes time – even for compatible networks. CNET’s Maggie Reardon perfectly sums up the 4G challenges that lie ahead for AT&T in integrating T-Mobile (if the deal gets regulatory approval):

While it’s true that T-Mobile and AT&T each use GSM technology, the carriers also use different bands of spectrum to deliver their services. Specifically, T-Mobile uses the spectrum it bought in the AWS spectrum auction in 2006 to build its 3G wireless network. AT&T also acquired spectrum in that auction. And it is using this AWS spectrum to build its LTE network. AT&T uses its 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum to deliver its 3G service. Part of the reason that AT&T wanted T-Mobile in the first place was to get more of the AWS spectrum for its LTE network. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has no additional spectrum to deploy LTE, since it’s been using the AWS spectrum for its 3G service. What this means is that once AT&T and T-Mobile merge, AT&T will have to move all of T-Mobile’s existing 3G customers (which includes the supposed 4G HSPA+ customers) to AT&T’s 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum. This means T-Mobile customers will need new handsets, since the existing T-Mobile 3G HSPA and 4G HSPA+ handsets will no longer work on the AWS spectrum.

Meanwhile, Verizon is planning to upgrade its entire nationwide network to LTE by the end of 2013. This unexpected AT&T/T-Mobile tie-up could have the effect of accelerating the 4G race in the US, which would make the American 4G networks some of the best on the planet — a reversal of fortune after the US fell behind Europe and Asia in 3G.

Note: We’re likely to hear more about the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and its potential implications this week at the CTIA Wireless conference on Orlando. I’ll be there covering it from beginning to end. You can read my posts here as well as follow me on Twitter for the latest updates from the conference.

Read more

• AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom (AT&T)
• Q&A: More Information About AT&T Acquisition of T-Mobile USA (T-Mobile)
• AT&T Buying T-Mobile USA In $39 Billion Deal (Silicon Alley Insider)
• AT&T to Buy Deutsche Telekom T-Mobile Unit for $39 Billion in Cash, Stock (Bloomberg)
• Why AT&T Bought T-Mobile (Mashable)
• Can Sprint win over regulators in AT&T, T-Mobile merger? (ZDNet)
• AT&T-T-Mobile USA deal may face regulatory hurdles (CNET)
• AT&T-T-Mobile merger: By the numbers (CNET)

 

 

via: ZDNet

Deutsche Telekom To Present T-Mobile USA Strategy Next Week?

Did you know that we are giving away up-to 100 iPads, Samsung Galaxy S tablets, and Blackberry Playbooks on January 17th? Enter on Facebook at http://bit.ly/pdogsweepsapp to receive your ticket numbers today!

You’ll have to “Bear” (Bears win!!) with us on this one as I’m not sure what exactly the Reuters article is referring to. That being said, Reuters is reporting that Rene Obermann, CEO of T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom, and Philip Humm, T-Mobile USA CEO “…are due on Thursday to present a strategy for the struggling US unit T-Mobile USA, which is the market’s No. 4 operator but has seen profits fall.”

I’m not sure what is being presented and where, but I can speculate perhaps a shareholder meeting overseas or some other form of meeting with Deutsche Telekom board members.

However, Obermann did present this statement as to what he believes is the larger picture for his US branch:

“In the US, we need an aggressive marketing policy and customer-friendly pricing,” Obermann told Bild am Sonntag. “We have to improve our arguments as to why customers should come to us or stay with us.”

So we’ll keep a sharp eye out for any news dropping on Thursday that might give us a hint as to what kind of plan the Magenta parent company has for its second largest branch.

What do you want to see/hear be offered?

Reuters

Clearwire Discusses Funding Options, Talking With T-Mobile USA

Clearwire Corp., a unit of Sprint Nextel Corp., is reviewing funding options and is in talks with existing and new investors, including Deutsche Telekom AG’s T- Mobile USA, a Clearwire spokesman said.

“Other alternative sources are also being considered that include the possibility of issuing additional debt and, or selling a small portion of our assets, which may include spectrum that is not critical to our business plan,” said Mike DiGioia of communications firm JLM Partners Inc., which represents Clearwire.

He confirmed comments made by Clearwire Chief Executive Officer Bill Morrow at a Goldman Sachs Corp. conference in New York Sept. 23 and first reported by Reuters. DiGioia said in an e-mail that T-Mobile USA is “one of many companies” that Clearwire is talking to. Deutsche Telekom spokesman Andreas Leigers declined to comment.

Europe’s biggest phone company, whose T-Mobile USA unit accounts for a quarter of revenue, lost market share in the last few years to bigger rivals like Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. They were quicker to upgrade to higher-speed third-generation networks and offered customers more attractive handsets, such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

The company risks falling behind again as competitors upgrade to fourth-generation networks for which Deutsche Telekom doesn’t have the necessary wireless spectrum.

“We’ll get a fourth-generation wireless network either by buying spectrum or re-farming existing spectrum, or potentially leasing spectrum together with others,” Deutsche Telekom’s Chief Executive Officer Rene Obermann said at a press conference on Aug. 5. “I don’t think we’ll trail others in the next two years.

Source: Bloomberg

Germany Flirts With BlackBerry Ban

Government contracts are a big part of BlackBerry’s business in the U.S. If President Obama’s constant use of the device is not evidence enough, senator John McCain was once attributed as the phone’s inventor. But that’s not the case in Germany, at least for much longer. There, the government announced today that due to a “dramatic” increase in cyber attacks, its ministers and senior civil servants were ordered not to use BlackBerry and iPhone devices.

The announcement comes following an “urgent” recommendation by federal IT security agency BSI, which suggested the German government switch to Simko devices offered by Deutsche Telekom. Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere explained that “a rise in attacks against our networks and in particular against government networks” has led officials to reconsider whether the smartphones’ security was aligned with its own. “BlackBerry’s infrastructure is a company-owned closed system,” he said. “But the access standard must be capable of being set by the government and not by a private company.”