Here is a collection of news clips about the AT&T T-Mobile merger deal as news broke over Thanksgiving that AT&T had withdrawn its application with the Federal Communications Commission to proceed with the merger.

The Wall Street Journal offers two reports today about the surprise news that AT&T was pulling its merger application from the FCC.  The newspaper wonders how the deal collapse will impact Deutsche Telekom, the German parent of T-Mobile USA, which has shown every indication it wants out of the U.S. market to focus on its telecommunications interests in Europe.  (7 minutes)

http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg ATT to Record 4B Costs on T-Mobile USA Deal Risks 11-25-11.flv

AT&T Inc., whose $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA is challenged by the U.S. Justice Department, will record one-time costs of $4 billion this quarter to reflect the risks of a collapse of the deal. AT&T and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom AG withdrew their applications to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission yesterday after FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Nov. 22 asked fellow commissioners to send the proposed purchase to a hearing, signaling an attempt to block the deal. Lizzie O’Leary reports on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.”  (2 minutes)

http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg ATT Decision to Withdraw T-Mobile FCC Application 11-25-11.flv

Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, talks about AT&T Inc.’s decision to withdraw its Federal Communications Commission application to acquire T-Mobile USA Inc. from Deutsche Telekom AG. She’s still slightly optimistic the deal can still succeed, especially if the 2012 elections result in a Republican administration.  She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.”  (2 minutes)

http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg ATTs T-Mobile Takeover FCC Application 11-25-11.flv

Paul Gallant, an analyst with Guggenheim Securities LLC, was surprised to see the FCC chairman suddenly take a more aggressive stance against the merger.  Most on Wall Street expected Chairman Genachowski to follow the Justice Dept. lead.  That changed last week when the chairman signaled the FCC would also take a tough look at the deal.  Also, will the news of the withdrawn application benefit Sprint?  Bloomberg News reports.  (3 minutes)

AT&T executives with dreams of a consolidated wireless marketplace are not having a happy Thanksgiving holiday today as the company quietly released news it is withdrawing its application with the Federal Communications Commission to buy T-Mobile USA from German parent Deutsche Telekom.

“The deal is over the cliff and falling rapidly into the sea,” one unnamed analyst told Bloomberg News this morning.  “The only thing left to do is cut T-Mobile a check for $6 billion in cash and spectrum.”

AT&T’s accountants are evidently preparing to do just that, booking at least $4 billion in “one time costs” this quarter, representing a significant chunk of the breakup fee.  Even as AT&T’s bookkeepers bow to the likely unconsummated marriage with T-Mobile, AT&T’s spin for the media is that the deal is still a go; the company only withdrew the FCC application to fully focus on the Justice Department case against the merger.

Odds-makers on Wall Street don’t buy it.

“What that tells you is AT&T’s auditors have now concluded that the deal is likely to fail and have forced the company to take that charge,” Will Draper, an analyst at Espirito Santo told Bloomberg.

Andrew Schwartzman, policy director of Media Access Project, called the move an “act of desperation.”

T-Mobile executives insist the deal is still on, however. AT&T and Deutsche Telekom plan to renew their attempt to gain FCC approval “as soon as practical,” T-Mobile executives claim. “This doesn’t mean that anything is over,” said Andreas Fuchs, a spokesman for the German company.

One bonus for AT&T: the decision to withdraw the application from the FCC will let AT&T maintain confidentiality of documents filed with the Commission in support of the merger.  An unnamed FCC official has been leaking portions of them to the media all week.  Among the most important revelations: AT&T’s public claims that the merger will create jobs ran headlong into their own internal documents, which guarantee the exact opposite, according to the official.

If AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile is approved, it would create an industry behemoth with 134 million customers, dwarfing current market leader Verizon Wireless.

Draper says the $4-6 billion award to T-Mobile for a merger failure still won’t be enough for the company to upgrade its network.

“They’re still going to have a very, very big problem in the U.S., which is going to cost them maybe $10 billion to fix,” he said.

Consumer Reports has unveiled its second annual Naughty & Nice Holiday List, a compilation of companies who deliver more than they promise, or stick their customers with a lump of customer service coal.

Among telecommunications providers, the consumer magazine is slamming Verizon Wireless for its gouge-you-now, tell-you-about-it-later “early warning system” that is supposed to notify customers before they exceed their arbitrary data plan limits.  Verizon can’t let a little customer service get in the way of making a ton of money on extortionist overlimit fees for customers who dare to use too much:

The company tells the Federal Communications Commission that it voluntarily provides ample warning to customers who seem about to exceed their monthly allotment of minutes, messages, or data, so a mandatory rule that would make it issue such alerts isn’t necessary. But we caught Verizon doing — and admitting to — something else. Two staffers who are Verizon customers recently were notified only after they went over their allotment, at which time the company tried to upsell them to a pricier plan. When contacted by our reporter, a company spokesman acknowledged that its voluntary alert system isn’t always reliable. But it now looks like better protection from “bill shock” is on its way. Under a mid-October deal with the FCC, members of CTIA – The Wireless Association, a trade group representing 97 percent of wireless carriers, agreed to begin issuing alerts of impending overages. Full implementation of the alert system could take until April 2013.

That represents at least a year-long Money Party for Big Red, which began enforcing its idea of an “appropriate amount” of usage earlier this year.  Green, silver and gold are not just for the holidays at VZW.

SiriusXM‘s customer service don’t-care-bears also come in for a spanking. On top of hold times that can rival a typical workday, customers who don’t trust the satellite radio company with their credit card number pay a price for their wariness – a $2 monthly bill fee:

If a subscriber wants to receive a bill in the mail and pay by check (the old-fashioned way), he or she will get socked with a $2 surcharge every month. The penalty can be avoided if the customer gives Sirius credit-card information and elects to be billed electronically on a recurring basis.

While AT&T breathes a sigh of relief they are not on the naughty list this year, Cablevision is pleasantly surprised to find themselves with a nice stocking stuffer courtesy of CR.

Telecom companies are a frequent target of consumer displeasure, but this industry giant offers more to subscribers who sign up for its Optimum Triple Play – Internet, phone, and TV service – free movie tickets on Tuesdays and deeply discounted tickets on other days. Customers who sign up for Cablevision’s Optimum Rewards program (it’s free) also get perks like discounted popcorn and soda at participating theaters.

Considering popcorn and soda purchases at most theaters now warrant an accompanying easy financing credit application, that’s no snowjob.

Watch Consumer Reports’ 2011 Naughty & Nice Holiday List of the good, bad, indifferent, and just plain lousy companies that want a piece of your holiday action.  (2 minutes)

Frontier Communications has launched a new discount program for active duty military and reservists that could save them up to $120 a year.

Military personnel can save $5 a month on double-play packages like telephone and broadband.  Customers also billed for Frontier FiOS TV or a satellite package on their phone bill get $10 a month, as long as they remain signed to a term commitment agreement Frontier calls its “price protection plan.”

“Frontier is instituting this additional discount to show our appreciation to those who serve our nation and protect our freedoms,” senior vice president and general manager for West Virginia Dana Waldo said in the news release. “As a company, Frontier has a proud history of supporting our troops. We entered into a Veteran Employment Partnership Program agreement with the U.S. Army Reserves and National Guard this past spring, and Frontier has a veteran employee base of nearly 10 percent, or 1,500.”

Frontier customers who serve in the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard or National Guard — both active and reserves are eligible for the program, and the savings can be combined with other plan discounts some customers may already receive.

Frontier this month also embarked on a hiring program that targets those in service to our country in association with the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces.

Interested applicants can visit Frontier’s Military Careers website to learn more about the company and available positions around the country.

“I believe that today Frontier does a solid job of re-employing returning reservists and other military personnel,” said Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter. “I want us to do even more, especially during these difficult economic and high-unemployment times. Our military men and women were there for us; it’s our turn to be here for them.”

To learn more about the military discount, call 1-877-462-8188.

Shark-infested waters for AT&T and T-Mobile USA

Months after the U.S. Department of Justice announced its formal opposition to the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, the Federal Communications Commission yesterday announced it would hold its own unusual “administrative hearing” to review the deal regardless of the outcome of a Justice Department lawsuit.

It has been more than nine years since the FCC last held such a hearing, which derailed the proposed merger of satellite TV providers DISH Network and DirecTV.  It is the clearest indication yet that regulators are deeply uncomfortable with the deal.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski waited for the Justice Department to announce its opposition to the deal before making his own concerns known.  The decision to pursue the special hearing, which won’t begin until 2012 and is likely to take several months, follows the lead of antitrust regulators at the DOJ.

It represents a nightmare scenario for AT&T, which has spent millions lobbying and promoting a merger with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA.

An unnamed FCC official told The Wall Street Journal AT&T’s campaign has been playing fast and loose with the facts, particularly relating to claims the merger will create up to 100,000 new jobs. The official, who has seen confidential document filings from AT&T, says the phone company’s secret papers reveal the exact opposite — “massive job losses” if the deal gets approved.

Most companies confronting an FCC administrative hearing think long and hard about the prospects of the deal. Unlike an antitrust legal case, which must prove that a merger will substantially undercut competition, the FCC need only prove a deal is contrary to the “public interest” to reject it, a much lower hurdle.

When DirecTV and DISH failed to win a nod from the FCC for their merger, it fell apart.

Solomon

AT&T was testy after hearing the news.

“It is yet another example of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs,” AT&T senior vice president of corporate communications Larry Solomon told the Journal. He added, “We are reviewing all options.”

A growing number of Wall Street analysts believe those options are dwindling by the day, and an all-out war by AT&T against regulators could come at a cost when the giant phone company brings other business before them. Genachowski is still willing to go to bat for AT&T, circulating a draft approval among fellow commissioners that would grant the company’s separate proposal to purchase $1.9 billion in additional wireless spectrum from Qualcomm, Inc.

Observers predict AT&T might offer to divest a larger portion of T-Mobile than it was originally comfortable considering.  That may ultimately prove less expensive than the alternative — paying Deutsche Telekom a breakup fee worth $6 billion dollars should the merger fail to succeed.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission will seek an administrative hearing on AT&T’s proposed $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA, according to a person close to the matter. Thomas Catan has details on The Wall Street Journal’s ‘News Hub.’  (2 minutes)

Time Warner Cable’s latest series of rate increases and perceived snubs has rubbed some New York residents the wrong way, and one upstate city has retaliated by extending the cable operator’s franchise by just one year.

Cable customers from Lowville to Massena, adjacent to the Canadian border, have been venting about the cable company’s decision to increase cable rates for the second time this year across the region.  The anger is nearly universal, whether one is a conservative tea party member in Norwood or a liberal Democrat in Watertown.

But the strongest message heard by Time Warner officials was delivered by Massena Deputy Supervisor Albert N. Nicola, who helped shoot down the cable company’s request for a 15-year franchise renewal, and approved a one year renewal in its place.  The vote was 5-0.

“They’re asking for a 15-year extension, which is absolutely totally outrageous,” Mr. Nicola told the Watertown Daily Times. “We’ve got to be crazy for even thinking about that.”

That is no Christmas present for Time Warner, whose cable franchise agreement in Massena expires this year on Dec. 25.

Town board members noted the cable company didn’t bother show up for franchise renegotiation discussions and were reportedly not in attendance for this week’s vote.

“It’s tough to ask questions of a group that isn’t here,” Nicola said.

Massena wants some changes in the local cable lineup, more responsiveness to local residents, and more involvement in the community by the cable company.

Residents want lower rates.

Wayne D. Mihalyi of Lowville called Time Warner the poster child of corporate greed.  Tim Donahue of Lowville wondered how much more he and his neighbors would take from the cable operator:

How long are we going to continue having Time Warner Cable increase their rates without hesitation? Isn’t anybody out there looking out for us?

We just had all our rates increase 7.5 percent in January 2011. They cried poverty and increases in dealing with the networks. Yet another small increase occurred (because of taxes) somewhere between June’s bill and October’s.

And now we just received yet another 8 percent increase within the same year? They must have seen how Netflix did it and said, “What the heck, if they can do it so can we.”

This time we’re supposed to believe it is because of their significantly increased cost of programming. Don’t forget, we also got socked a whopping 16.5 percent increase in January of 2010. When is this nonsense going to end? I am beginning to understand the reason for some of the protesting going on. This is outright greed. There is no other explanation or words for it. They have to know that seniors haven’t even had a 1 percent raise in three years.

A late August thunderstorm brought down AT&T’s phone lines in the backyard of 80-year-old Isabelle Hendricks of Cleveland, Ohio.  More than two months later, the cables were still strewn across Hendricks’ yard, her phone line was only sporadically in service, and AT&T was still ignoring calls pleading the company to do something about it.

Nephew Anthony Mauldin took his AT&T Horror Story to YouTube, and the phone company still refused to get the lines off the ground.

“It’s been very frustrating, because we’ve been trying to get somebody out here since the first of September,” Mauldin told WEWS News. “They gave us a date, but they didn’t show.”

Mauldin says his aunt has been hospitalized over the past week, and lives alone.  He’s concerned AT&T’s landline is so intermittent, she may not be able to contact anyone in the event of an emergency.

AT&T claims it could not complete the repairs because when the lines fell, tree debris came with it — too much debris for AT&T crews to be comfortable working around.

More than two months later, Mauldin called WEWS-TV in hopes a little media exposure might do the trick.  It did.  Within two hours of the newsroom calling AT&T, crews were in Ms. Hendrick’s backyard cleaning up the mess, along with their telephone cables.  (2 minutes)

Providers establishing Internet Overcharging schemes like usage caps, so-called “consumption billing,” and speed throttles that force subscribers into expensive upgrades are planning for a growth industry in data consumption.

According to new research from a firm that specializes in market strategies, data usage is going up and fast.  Providers that seek to monetize that usage could win enormous new profits just sitting back and waiting for customers to exceed the arbitrary usage caps some companies are now enforcing with their customers and take the proceeds to the bank.

iGR says the demand for connectivity inside the home is at an all-time high, with the biggest growth coming from wireless Wi-Fi connections.  The more devices consumers associate with their home broadband connection, the greater the usage.

That is one of the reasons why providers are increasingly supplying customers with free or inexpensive Wi-Fi routers, to make the connections quick, simple, and potentially profitable down the road.

Comcast's Wireless Gateway: A Future Money Machine?

Comcast announced this week it would supply a free 802.11N “home gateway” free of charge to every new customer signing up for Blast!, Extreme 50 or Extreme 105 broadband service.  In addition to wireless connectivity for every device in the home, the Xfinity Wireless Gateway also includes a built-in cable modem and phone service adapter.  Time Warner Cable strongly encourages new DOCSIS 3 customers use their equipment for Wi-Fi service as well.  AT&T has included its own wireless gateway with U-verse for a few years now.

The offer is hard to refuse.  Nearly 80 percent of homes use wireless access, connecting cell phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, game consoles, and even set top boxes that let customers stream video entertainment to their television sets.

iGR found average usage in heavily-connected homes at the all time high of 390GB per month.  By 2015, that will rise to more than 440GB per month.  Both numbers are well in excess of average consumption limits by providers like Comcast and AT&T, which top out at just 250GB per month.  Of course, not all Wi-Fi usage is based on traffic from the Internet.  Some users stream content between computers or devices within the home.  But the research is clear — usage is growing, dramatically.

Video is by far the biggest factor, according to iGR.  Their report, U.S. Home Broadband & WiFi Usage Forecast, 2011-2015, says the appetite for downloaded and streamed video is only growing.

Matt Vartabedian, vice president of the wireless and mobile research service at iGR, says home Wi-Fi has become inextricably woven into the personal, social and business fabric of today’s life.

Broadband is increasingly seen by consumers as an essential utility, as important as the home wired telephone, safe drinking water, and reliable electric and natural gas service.

Providers are positioning themselves to take advantage of the growth market in data by establishing what, at first glance, may seem to be generous (often inflexible) usage limits that remain unchanged years after introduction.  While only a handful of consumers may cross those provider-imposed thresholds at first, within a few years, it will be more uncommon to remain within plan limits, especially if you watch online video.

Netflix is selling $400 million in stock and convertible notes to bolster its cash-on-hand as the company faces the imminent loss of important video content for its streaming movie service.  Netflix stock has paid the price in what some investors are calling the worst deal ever. Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, suspects banks might be turning Netflix down for traditional, less expensive bank loans, leaving the expensive stock sale its only alternative.

Netflix continues to lose subscribers upset over recent price increases and impending content reductions on the company’s streaming service.  Much of Netflix’s more-recent streaming movie library comes from its expiring deal with Starz, and that content will disappear in February.

Banks may be worried the forthcoming downsizing of Netflix’s online selection combined with increasingly expensive streaming renewal deals for the programming that remains may make the company too risky, even if they use the money to acquire additional content. The company might be one rate increase away from a subscriber exodus.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings isn’t inspiring confidence among investors either.  He’s been selling nearly 5,000 shares of Netflix stock every week since the beginning of the year, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  If Hastings ultimately dumps 260,000 shares in the company he founded, investors wonder, why should they buy?

The Wall Street Journal financial MarketBeat blog wonders just how many more blunders are in store for the former high-flying company:

So Netflix is raising a bunch of cash by selling stock when it’s super cheap, after spending a lot of money earlier this year buying back stock when it was super expensive.

This comes after it raised its prices high enough to irritate half its customers, then tried to chase off the other half by shunting them off to a splinter company named after a pot-smoking Elmo. Then it said, never mind, just kidding, please don’t leave us. We can’t wait to not read the business-school papers written about this one!

For some mysterious reason, investors are once again fleeing in disgust from Netflix’s stock, which is down more than 4% this morning at $71. And analysts are not too pleased, either — although, these being analysts, there are of course some who say everything’s just fine, the stock’s a great bargain.

Pachter believes either the company’s chief financial officer is “a moron,” or the company is in growing trouble, unable to convince traditional lending sources with cheap money to share some with Netflix.  The company still expects a financial loss in the coming quarter, although it says subscriber flight is now diminishing.  Netflix is also trying to find new content to keep subscribers satisfied, although much of it consists of repeats of low budget cable documentary and reality shows.

Completely overshadowed by the stock sale are two just-announced Netflix acquisitions: a recommissioned Arrested Development, a quirky comedy which ran on Fox from 2003-2006, and the BBC’s ruthless 1990 political intrigue mini-series House of Cards.

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, talks about Netflix’s agreement to sell $400 million in stock and convertible notes to bolster cash as it increases spending for online rights to films and TV shows. (Bloomberg News)  (8 minutes)

AT&T pays a lot of money — millions annually — to make sure its business agenda does not run into political or legislative roadblocks in Washington, D.C.  With dozens of members of Congress effectively on AT&T’s campaign contribution payroll and the company’s unparalleled skill at convincing non-profit organizations to advocate for its interests, worrying about the government’s antitrust views on its proposed buyout of Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile was the least of its troubles.

“It’s a done deal,” several analysts predicted shortly after the deal was announced, especially after AT&T demonstrated its confidence level in the merger was as high as the enormous $6 billion dollar breakup concession payable to Telekom if it ever fell apart.

Then the government dared to put its two cents in, in the form of a “are you kidding me?”-lawsuit courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice.  It seems, in the words of some Beltway cynics, the Obama Administration can manage to see a clear cut case of anti-competitive behavior when given enough time.

Since the lawsuit was announced on Aug. 31, it has been “all-hands-on-deck” for the company’s government relations division, packed full of the company’s top lobbyists.  While company lawyers desperately attempt to block what it sees as “pile on” objections and lawsuits from worried competitors, Sprint-Nextel in particular, AT&T lobbyists are trying to compromise away the Justice Department case with proposals of concessions and giveaways to make approval more palatable.

Further north, as fall turns into winter in New York’s financial district, Wall Street analysts are cold on the troubled deal themselves.

The Financial Times reports most analysts think there is now less than a 50-50 chance the merger will be completed unless the two companies agree to disgorge themselves of market share, territories, and increasing “shareholder value” that will come from eventual rate increases a wireless duopoly would inevitably bring.

Some are even less sanguine, predicting AT&T has only a 20 percent shot, and only if it sells off considerable chunks of valuable spectrum to competitors other than Verizon Wireless.

AT&T is retuning its “message” for the times, downplaying the original, ludicrous notion that urban-focused T-Mobile would be the keystone of a new era in 4G wireless service for rural America.  There is a reason T-Mobile isn’t the first choice for small town America’s cell phone buyers.

Instead, AT&T is now positioning the merger deal as a lifeboat for its troubled competitor.  AT&T suggests the number four carrier is in immediate peril — hemorrhaging customers, caught without a coherent 4G strategy, and an exodus of interest by its increasingly neglectful parent — Deutsche Telekom.

Could Time Warner Cable be an eventual part-owner of T-Mobile USA?

“Over the past two years, T-Mobile USA has been losing customers despite explosive demand for mobile broadband,” AT&T said in a statement this week. “T-Mobile USA has no clear path to 4G LTE, the industry’s next generation network, and its German parent, Deutsche Telekom, has said it would not continue to make significant investments in the United States.”

With AT&T predicting the demise of its smaller would-be cousin, consumers may not be in the mood to sign a two-year contract with a company that could soon be rechristened AT&T, especially those leaving AT&T for T-Mobile.

But don’t tell T-Mobile’s marketing department it’s a phone company on life support.  T-Mobile has beefed up its advertising and continues to irritate its larger competitors, particularly AT&T, with very aggressive pricing on its prepaid plans.

T-Mobile recently unveiled two disruptive $30 4G prepaid plans that offer either 1500 shared minutes/text messages and 30MB of data usage -or- 100 voice minutes combined with unlimited texting and up to 5GB of mobile data before the speed throttle kicks in.  Those prices are too low for AT&T and Verizon to ignore, especially when offered on a 4G network.

So far, the Justice Department shows no signs of backing down from their resolute opposition to the deal, minor concessions or not.  Shareholders may not appreciate giving the government too much of what it wants in order to win approval.  Washington lawmakers are split — virtually every Republican favors the merger, Democrats are less absolute, with most opposed.  Among those in favor, by how much is often a measure of what kind of campaign money AT&T has thrown their way.

AT&T absolutely denies they have a “Plan B” in case the merger eventually fails.  But the Times doubts that, reporting as time drags on, an alternative deal might emerge.  Some of the possibilities:

• T-Mobile USA could merge its spectrum with Dish Network, the satellite TV company, to launch a new 4G mobile operator in the USA;
• Combine forces (and spectrum) in a deal with leading U.S. cable companies like Cox, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable to launch a new cable-branded mobile operator;
• Sell or merge operations with MetroPCS, Leap Wireless’ Cricket, or one of several regional cell companies.

Perennial cable booster Craig Moffett from Sanford Bernstein predictably favors the cable solution, which would let companies offer a quad or quint-play of cable TV, wireless mobile broadband, wired broadband, phone, and cell phone service all on one bill.  It would also get the FCC off the backs of cable operators Time Warner and Comcast, who both control a total of 20MHz of favored wireless spectrum they have left unused since acquiring it at auction.  The Commission is increasingly irritated at companies who own unused spectrum at a time when the agency is trying to find additional frequencies for wireless providers.

Bloomberg News questions AT&T’s claim its merger deal with T-Mobile will create 96,000 new jobs. [Nov. 8] (3 minutes)