AT&T|T-Mobile USA

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.

Apparently, Sharis Pozen, the Justice Department’s chief antitrust enforcer, is preparing to leave her post, likely as soon as this spring.

Deutsche Telekom could raise billions of dollars for the T-Mobile USA business by issuing bonds and selling broadcast towers to bolster the independence of the US unit after failing to sell it to AT&T last month. The company has held preliminary talks with bankers about options to keep the US’s fourth-largest mobile operator competitive in the US market.

Leap Wireless and MetroPCS may be takeover targets for bigger rivals AT&T or T-Mobile USA after the larger companies’ $39 billion merger plan collapsed, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said.

AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile would have made AT&T the largest carrier in America, and it would have also arguably created a duopoly where AT&T/T-Mobile’s only true competitor would have been Verizon. That kind of arrangement is usually bad for consumers, and it’s definitely bad for other companies.

The cell phone industry is imperiled by a duopoly, according to the antirust watchdogs at the Department of Justice.

Deal makers are scrambling to determine what lessons to draw from the collapse of AT&T Inc.'s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. Here's one: Don't underestimate the Justice Department's newfound toughness in policing mergers between rivals.

T-Mobile USA, the weaker partner in the now-collapsed proposed deal with AT&T, has few good options to thrive in the competitive wireless market in the United States.