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So what's T-Mobile's backup plan?

With AT&T's deal to acquire T-Mobile USA on life support, T-Mobile may need to start considering a Plan B.

By itself, T-Mobile is a wireless operator struggling to keep its best customers from leaving. Over the past several months, the carrier has aggressively cut prices and made itself a haven for bargain seekers--all for the sake of sparking a little growth. As a result, it resembles more of large prepaid carrier than one of the traditional national players.

But with the promised breakup fee from AT&T if the deal isn't approved, including $3 billion … Read more

AT&T: Sprint's public, private claims are two-faced

AT&T's fight with Sprint Nextel over its right to buy T-Mobile USA keeps getting uglier.

The latest move by AT&T: claiming Sprint is two-faced, pointing out contradictions between its publicly made arguments and its confidential responses to the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T won the right to access Sprint's confidential documents because it needs to prepare for its defense against the Department of Justice. AT&T filed a document pointing out the difference in opinion to the FCC.

The war of words has gotten increasingly bitter, as AT&T scrambles to … Read more

A Nokia, Windows Phone 7, and AT&T threesome for CES?

With the 2012 CES set to begin just two months from today, it's a perfect time to start speculation on what we might see in Las Vegas.

Today's rumor concerns Nokia and Windows Phone 7, two technology brands that up until last month were playing a game of hide-and-go-seek. Just when we were about to give up all hope, they finally got hitched at Nokia World when they debuted two shiny phones with the Nokia Lumia 800 and 710. And now it appears that they might form a threesome with AT&T at the annual electronics extravaganza. … Read more

U.S. attorney general: DOJ 'ready and eager' for AT&T trial

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told lawmakers today that the Justice Department's antitrust division is "ready and eager" to pursue its lawsuit and stop AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

Holder said the division is "committed to seeing this through," Reuters reported today. Holder was speaking at an oversight meeting with the Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel.

In August, the Justice Department sued to block the proposed $39 billion merger, putting the brakes on what many in the industry assumed to be a done deal. The Justice Department cited concern over competition … Read more

Union: AT&T's T-Mobile buy would create 100,000 jobs

The merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA would create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States, a major telecommunications union said today, again putting its weight behind the deal.

The Communications Workers of America said a new analysis has found that the deal, which would combine the second- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers, would create an additional 96,000 jobs, alongside the 5,000 outsourced jobs AT&T has pledged to bring back.

The CWA also lashed out at opponents of the deal, noting that their concerns over lost jobs stemmed from "sloppy … Read more

Sprint ordered to hand over internal docs to AT&T

AT&T recorded a minor victory after Sprint Nextel was ordered to hand over internal documents to its rival.

The two companies continue to be bitterly locked over AT&T's proposed acquisition of Mobile USA, which Sprint has fiercely fought against. U.S. Special Master Richard Levie ruled yesterday that Sprint would have to hand over additional critical documents to AT&T that it hadn't already given to the U.S. Justice Department, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported yesterday.

AT&T had originally sought even more documents, which give insight into Sprint's game plan and … Read more

AT&T pushes back target date for T-Mobile buy

The regulatory scrutiny is starting to get to AT&T and its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA.

AT&T disclosed in its quarterly regulatory filing that it now expects the deal to close in the first half of 2012, compared with its previous target of the first quarter. The Dow Jones Newswires was the first to report the change.

The regulatory scrutiny has also caused it to push back the target date for its acquisition of spectrum from Qualcomm. AT&T now expects that deal to close in the first quarter of 2012, rather than the end … Read more

Judge lets Sprint, C Spire pursue suit against AT&T

A federal judge today allowed Sprint Nextel and C Spire to continue with its lawsuit to block the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA.

AT&T and T-Mobile had attempted to dismiss the lawsuit. But Judge Ellen Huvelle allowed both companies to persist with their lawsuits, which claim they would be squeezed by market pressures if the consolidation were to be allowed, according to Reuters. Part of the lawsuits, however, were dismissed. The lawsuits could further complicate the deal, which already faces opposition in the form of a lawsuit from the Justice Department.

"Both Sprint and … Read more

AT&T says hello to its latest flip phone, the AT&T Z331

The AT&T Z331 is the carrier's most recent flip phone for those who just want the basics. In addition to making calls and supporting Bluetooth, this 3G world phone has a browser, supports mobile e-mail, and has a 3-megapixel camera. It also can accommodate up to 8GB in external memory through a microSD card.

At just 3 hours of rated talk time, the battery life seems pretty short, but the price is nice at just $9.99 after a $30 mail-in rebate ($39.99 MSRP), or $179.99 off-contract.

Why Microsoft killed the Courier

AT&T gets its first LTE smartphones this weekend, Google Reader is integrated with Google Plus, and we learn more about the death of Microsoft's Courier tablet project.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: