Antitrust

Seven LCD manufacturer including Samsung and Sharp this month agreed to pay $553 million to settle lawsuits that claimed the companies were colluding with one another to fix the prices of their panels for use in consumer electronics.

Legal documents filed last week, and picked up by Reuters, show that the collected fines total $553 million between the companies involved, and that said companies will be setting up antitrust compliance programs as part of the deal. Of that sum, about $501 million is going towards a refund program for consumers, and about $37 million is being doled out to governments … Read more

T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, may be losing out on $39 billion from its failed attempt to merge with AT&T, but on Tuesday the company gave a bit more detail on its consolation prize.

But will the breakup fee be enough to save T-Mobile?

On Monday, AT&T announced that it had ended its pursuit to buy T-Mobile. The company said it decided to pull the plug after it became clear it could not persuade regulators of the benefits of the merger.

While the dissolution of the deal leaves AT&T without much-needed spectrum to … Read more

AT&T finally ditched its plan to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion on Monday, after months of intense lobbying.

AT&T blamed regulators for the deal's demise, and the company said in a statement that consumers would be harmed and investment would be stifled as a result. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission--the two agencies that opposed the deal--said that AT&T's decision to abandon its purchase was a victory for consumers.

"Consumers won today," Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Sharis A. Pozen … Read more

AT&T said today that it has withdrawn its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA in a deal worth $39 billion.

The company said it would take a $4 billion charge in the fourth quarter as part of the break-up fee with Deutsche Telekom. The companies had agreed to this break-up fee when they formed the deal, which was announced in March. AT&T said the companies will also enter into a mutually beneficial roaming agreement.

There had been much speculation about how long AT&T would fight to keep its deal with T-Mobile alive. In August, the … Read more

AT&T may be shifting gears as it prepares to abandon its original plan to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported today that talks between AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice to come up with an acceptable plan for the wireless giant to buy T-Mobile have stalled. The Justice Department sued AT&T in August to stop the planned merger, stating that such a merger would hurt competition.

Since then AT&T has considered divesting or giving up certain parts of the T-Mobile network … Read more

AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice have asked a federal judge to delay any more legal proceedings in the antitrust case against AT&T and T-Mobile.

On Monday, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, requested that Judge Huvelle, who is overseeing the case, stay any further court proceedings until January 18, 2012. AT&T said that the companies need time to evaluate their options. The U.S. Department of Justice, which sued AT&T in August to stop its merger with T-Mobile, joined in the filing.

AT&T … Read more

The European Commission has put a temporary hold on its review of Google's proposed purchase of Motorola Mobility as it seeks more details about the deal.

The EC, which is the executive arm and the antitrust authority for the European Union , had originally intended to render a thumbs up or thumbs down on the deal by January 10. But the Commission halted its review on December 6, according to a notification on its Web site.

The Commission will continue the review after it has obtained "certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction," Amelia … Read more

commentary In a surprising and disturbing break with long-standing agency practice, the FCC on Tuesday released a draft report on the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile prepared by its staff--days after the parties withdrew their application with the agency.

The move could fuel calls for serious reform of the agency's increasingly free-wheeling behavior.

The two companies withdrew their application on Thanksgiving, following word that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski planned to ask the other commissioners to refer the merger to an administrative judge for a hearing.

That step, agency officials made clear, signaled the chairman's belief … Read more

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom may form a partnership to share wireless resources if federal regulators reject AT&T's $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile USA, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The Journal cited unnamed sources who said that the companies are discussing a joint venture that would pool resources from AT&T and T-Mobile, which Deutsche Telekom owns. The exact nature of the arrangement is not known, but both AT&T and Deutsche Telekom could use T-Mobile's wireless spectrum, the newspaper said (subscription required). Under such an arrangement, Deutsche Telekom would likely … Read more