merger

What T-Mobile's merger with MetroPCS means to you (FAQ)

Deutsche Telekom is doubling down on its U.S. wireless subsidiary T-Mobile USA with a plan to buy the prepaid regional carrier MetroPCS. But what's it mean for wireless subscribers?

Yesterday, Deutsche Telekom announced it had agree to buy MetroPCS and combine it with T-Mobile USA. The move is an indication that T-Mobile's German parent isn't giving up on the wireless carrier, which spent most of last year in a holding pattern while regulators considered AT&T's $39 billion bid to buy the company. Regulators didn't like the idea of the No. 2 AT&… Read more

Sprint mulls outbidding T-Mobile for MetroPCS

Sprint may want MetroPCS for itself.

Bloomberg reports that the number-three U.S. wireless carrier is considering its own offer for prepaid provider MetroPCS, which yesterday announced a deal with Deutsche Telekom to merge with the U.S. wireless provider T-Mobile.

The news service says that Sprint, which had been close to its own deal to buy MetroPCS earlier this year, is talking to advisers about whether it should offer a higher price to buy the company. Sprint had been re-evaluating a play for MetroPCS a few weeks ago before T-Mobile announced its deal, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.

On Wednesday, … Read more

T-Mobile CEO: MetroPCS deal is no Sprint-Nextel repeat

The planned merger between nationwide carrier T-Mobile USA and prepaid provider MetroPCS is not a repeat of the failed merger between Sprint and Nextel back in 2005, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said during a conference call with the press today.

This deal, he said, is about gaining more spectrum in an effort to challenge bigger competitors like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

"This is not a Sprint/Nextel do-over," Legere said. "This deal is not about simply surviving. It's about driving growth. When we add MetroPCS to the aggressive challenger strategy (of T-Mobile) it will … Read more

Wireless shakeup: T-Mobile to merge with MetroPCS

Deutsche Telekom, parent company to T-Mobile USA, said Wednesday it has struck a merger deal with prepaid regional carrier MetroPCS.

According to the agreement, MetroPCS shareholders will get $1.5 billion in cash and a 26 percent stake in the combined company. Deutsche Telekom will own the remaining 74 percent of the company.

The deal requires regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2013.

"We are extremely pleased to announce this transaction with MetroPCS, which enhances Deutsche Telekom's position in the … Read more

T-Mobile parent in talks for deal with MetroPCS

T-Mobile USA's parent, Deutsche Telekom AG, and MetroPCS confirmed today that they are in talks to combine operations.

Both companies sent out statements confirming recent speculation that a potential deal was brewing. Here are their respective comments:

Deutsche Telekom:

Deutsche Telekom is holding talks with the listed company MetroPCS with the aim of operating its subsidiary T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS within one company in which Deutsche Telekom would hold the majority of shares.

The talks are at a stage where significant issues have not yet been finalized, contracts have not yet been signed and the conclusion of the transaction … Read more

T-Mobile parent DT says another sale unlikely

Deutsche Telekom isn't keen on repeating last year's failed attempt to wed its T-Mobile USA unit to AT&T, or any other carrier, for that matter.

A complete sale of T-Mobile is unlikely as Deutsche Telekom focuses on turning the business around and ensuring it is a self-funding venture, Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann told shareholders today, according to a Bloomberg report.

T-Mobile has spent the last few months getting back into the wireless game in a real, aggressive way, launching ads that specifically target its competitors, including former suitor AT&T, and laying out plans … Read more

SAP buying Ariba with plans for a cloud super-network

SAP America is looking to develop "the business network of the future" with the acquisition of cloud-based business commerce network Ariba at the price of $45 per share. That rounds out to roughly approximately $4.3 billion.

Each party brings something significant to the table here. Ariba already has the buyer-seller collaboration network, which is intended to compliment SAP's existing customer base as well as its B2B solutions. Thus, this really gives SAP a big push in the cloud space.

SAP will also be bringing its own resources to boost Ariba. For example, SAP is integrating its … Read more

What Google can do with Motorola

All eyes will be on Google, as it takes a sudden plunge into the hardware business, courtesy of Motorola.

The $12.5 billion deal, which closed today, netted Google a healthy stockpile of patents for legal defense and offense, along with a historic technology brand and a multibillion-dollar handset and TV set-top box business.

It's pretty obvious what Google will do with the patents, given the increasingly litigious environment in which the technology world finds itself. Motorola's last few years of losses also bring a clear tax benefit to Google in the near term. But what is less … Read more

Franken: Comcast thumbs nose at Net neutrality rules

Senator Al Franken says Comcast may be violating Net neutrality rules by exempting its own video service from a usage cap on its broadband network.

The Minnesota Democrat today sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice asking the agencies to take a closer look at a new service Comcast announced in March that will stream Xfinity on-demand content to Microsoft Xbox consoles.

The content that is streamed directly to the Xbox console will not be counted against subscribers' total bandwidth usage caps.Comcast now imposes a 250GB monthly data cap on its subscribers.

This … Read more