T-Mobile USA

Deutsche Telekom scrambling for cash to keep T-Mobile competitive

Deutsche Telekom is trying to raise money to keep its T-Mobile USA unit competitive following AT&T's failure to acquire the unit.

The German telecom giant is looking to drum up billlions in cash by issuing bonds and possibly selling T-Mobile's cellular towers, says a story in today's Financial Times (registration required).

Deutsche Telekom is in line to pick up $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum space and roaming rights from AT&T as a break-up fee. But that still may not be enough to help T-Mobile compete against its three larger … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S II comes in white for T-Mobile

It will be a white Christmas for T-Mobile USA subscribers looking to buy the Samsung Galaxy S II.

On Tuesday, the carrier announced that it will soon offer the smartphone in a second color: white. It started selling the black version of the slick smartphone in October. T-Mobile said it will offer more details about where and when the white Galaxy S II will be offered in the "coming weeks." But T-Mobile promised it will be available in time for the holidays.

The Galaxy S II is one of T-Mobile's top smartphones. The device runs on Android … Read more

What the iPhone 4S means for the carriers

Apple's much-anticipated new iPhone was unveiled today at the company's headquarters in California. And for the first time in iPhone history, three of the four major U.S. operators will be offering the latest version of the device.

AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Wireless will each begin selling their version of the iPhone 4S on October 14. Apple and its carrier partners will begin taking preorders for the device on Friday. Even though the announcement of the new iPhone 4S may have disappointed some fans because it was not the hoped for redesign known as the … Read more

Deutsche Telekom: We are entitled to a breakup fee

Deutsche Telekom said today it would be entitled to a breakup fee if AT&T's planned purchase of T-Mobile USA falls apart, refuting an earlier report that it could potentially end up with nothing.

Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported yesterday that AT&T may be off the hook for paying a $6 billion breakup fee to Deutsche Telekom under certain conditions. But Deutsche Telekom said today that isn't the case.

"The story from Reuters misstated the facts," Deutsche Telekom representative Andreas Fuchs told CNET today. "The breakup fee was agreed to precisely to … Read more

AT&T promises 5,000 new jobs after T-Mobile merger

Update 8:08 a.m. PT: Just after this story was posted, the Department of Justice said that it has gone to court in Washington, D.C., in an effort to block the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, saying the deal would reduce competition and violate U.S. antitrust laws.

AT&T is using the prospect of more jobs to help make a stronger case for its merger with T-Mobile USA.

If the deal is approved, AT&T today said that it will be able to "bring back" 5,000 call center jobs to … Read more

Wireless CEOs go to Washington, D.C.

Next week, CEOs from some of the nation's largest wireless companies will be testifying on Capitol Hill for and against the proposed $39 billion megamerger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA.

On Wednesday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm will argue in favor of the merger in front of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled "The AT&T/T-Mobile Merger: Is Humpty Dumpty Being Put Back Together Again?"

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse and regional carrier Cellular South CEO Hu Mena will be there to testify against the merger. … Read more

Report: Wireless carriers rethink mobile payments

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA are scaling back plans for a mobile payment system that will allow people to buy things with their cell phones, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal today.

In November the companies announced that they had formed an alliance with credit card company Discover to build their own mobile payment network. The joint venture was known as Isis. The plan called for the carriers to set up their own payment and transaction network that would charge fees based on transactions. The business model would have put the wireless operators in … Read more

Report: DOJ asks for more info on AT&T/T-Mobile deal

The U.S. Justice Department is asking for more information as it takes a deep dive into its investigation of AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reported today.

According to two unnamed sources familiar with the situation, Bloomberg said that the Justice Department's antitrust division also sent "civil investigative demands," which are like subpoenas, to competitors of the two companies. The Justice Department is seeking more information on how the deal will affect other wireless businesses, Bloomberg reported.

Neither AT&T nor T-Mobile would comment on the story. And the … Read more

Tethering apps 'blocked' in Android Market

Some of the nation's biggest wireless carriers are trying to put the kibosh on free apps that let Google Android users use their smartphones as modems without paying the carriers' extra fee.

Several blogs have reported in recent days that free Android phone tethering apps that are typically found in the Android Market are not available for Android phones on AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA.

Sprint customers apparently are still able to access many of these tethering apps from the Android Market.

Reports first surfaced from the blog DroidLife that the free tethering app Wireless Tether … Read more