AT&T|T-Mobile USA

Tom Wheeler, reportedly the nominee to chair the Federal Communications Commission, now faces confirmation by the Senate, but that's perhaps the last place to turn for insight into what the candidate really thinks on tech policy. A far more interesting set of opinions can be found on Wheeler's blog, which he's kept since May 2007.

AT&T and T-Mobile are spending big bucks to take potshots at one another.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson admitted that his company didn't execute well on its proposed $39 billion dollar deal to purchase T-Mobile USA when it made a bid for the operator in 2010.

Last year, when AT&T was in the throes of trying to convince federal regulators that its proposed deal to acquire T-Mobile should go through, company executives repeatedly cited the fact that they didn’t have enough spectrum to begin with and needed their smaller competitor’s resources. On November 7, AT&T changed its tune, saying that it would have complete LTE coverage nationwide by 2014, largely driven by its purchases earlier this year of the 2.3GHz WCS band.

In the past month, to the complete surprise of just about every analyst and industry watcher, foreign investors spent the equivalent of $25 billion to invest in competing carriers T-Mobile and to acquire control of Sprint and ClearWire. AT&T has announced a whole bunch of network upgrades such as repurposing its 2G spectrum, clearing up the interference in the WCS band, and a seemingly endless stream of license acquisitions. While the last is perhaps not so unusual, U.S. Cellular has likewise been spending money to cobble together a broader footprint using the less—than—stellar—but—better—than–nothing 700 MHz A block. Quite a turnaround from the start of 2011, when the industry appeared on a glide-path for a duopoly. So what happened?

Philipp Humm is out at T-Mobile, and we don’t know why.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission fired back at AT&T and T-Mobile, saying the agency’s decision to block the mobile giants’ merger won’t push up consumer prices.

The Federal Communications Commission approved the transfer of AWS spectrum licenses from AT&T to T-Mobile USA, agreed to as part of the breakup of the proposed merger between the two companies.

T-Mobile made the sad announcement that it would be closing seven call centers, laying off thousands of workers, and that more layoff announcements may follow. Normally, we’d not comment on something like this. But I feel this is an exception for one big reason -- only a few months ago AT&T promised to preserve these very same call centers and jobs if our merger was approved. We also predicted that if the merger failed, T-Mobile would be forced into major layoffs.

AT&T leaned heavily on union support for its attempted acquisition of T-Mobile USA last year. Now, two months after the $39 billion deal collapsed, some union leaders say the carrier doesn't seem very grateful.

AT&T's failed $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA cost the telecommunications giant $4 billion in assets and cash. It also cost Chief Executive Randall Stephenson.

AT&T, the largest US telecommunications group, has named senior executive John Stankey to the newly created position of group president and chief strategy officer.

The government scored a huge victory for consumers when it defeated AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile, preserving a wireless landscape with four nationwide competitors. Now that the dust has settled, though, there’s a lingering question in my mind: Was the fight worth it?

Telecom behemoth AT&T has begun shedding lobbyists in the wake of its failed merger with T-Mobile.