[Lamplighter]

NY Times
MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED
December 19, 2011

AT&T Ends $39 Billion Bid for T-Mobile

AT&T said on Monday afternoon that it had withdrawn its $39 billion
takeover bid for T-Mobile USA, acknowledging that it could not overcome opposition
from the Obama administration to creating the nation’s biggest cellphone service provider.

Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will pay Deutsche Telekom $4 billion in cash
and wireless spectrum as a break-up fee, and the two companies will begin
a seven-year roaming agreement that will expand T-Mobile’s national coverage.

The company said in a statement that it would continue to invest in wireless spectrum,
but could not overcome resistance from both the Justice Department and
the Federal Communications Commission. It added that American wireless customers
“will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled” by the regulators’ decisions.

Oh sure, it was Obama's fault AT&T entered into an agreement to pay out $4 billion - if
the merger fell through. Now, guess who is really going to pay...