Hasta La Gadget!

The purchase of a controlling stake in Sprint’s business here in the United States has become a bit of a circus when it comes to companies stepping in with complaints here in the spring of 2013. The plan was first tipped back in October of 2012 and confirmed that same month with a 70% stake in Sprint being agreed upon for $20.1 billion dollars, purchased by Japan-based mobile carrier Softbank. Since that announcement, we’ve seen protests from AT&T, the Dish Network, and now the real deal US Department of Justice – it appears that there are going to be some delays, needless to say.

Two new news bits are appearing this week in regards to this situation, the first being Dish “holding off” on their legal filing against the Softbank/Sprint merger. Before this week it was apparent that Dish was having none of the deal between the two based largely on their desire to purchase a controlling stake in the mobile company known as Clearwire here in the USA. If the deal went through, Sprint would be able to purchase Clearwire for a pre-discussed price – if the deal did not go through, Sprint would be unable to purchase Clearwire and the price Dish offered up for the business would likely go through. They’ve decided to cut their ties with the whole situation, noting with the FCC that they simply will not be participating in the next round of filings in the regulatory review – that’s it!

That note was according to Reuters while the following bit comes from ZDNet where they’ve attained details surrounding a brand new filing as made public by the DOJ. When the Department of Justice steps in on your business deal, you’ve usually got problems. In this case, it appears that, according to Sprint speaking with ZDNet, “this is a routine request.”

It would appear also that Sprint maintains that they’ll be completing the deal with Softbank by mid-2013 while their purchase of Clearwire has had no updated statuses – so we must assume that they’re good to go as well. The Department of Justice’s letter made clear that the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI are all “currently” reviewing the Softbank deal for possible issues in national security, law enforcement, and public safety – and they’re just not done yet.

So hang tight, folks, as this deal continues to see as much or more scrutiny than it needs before it gets done (or fizzles.) Have a peek a the timeline below to follow this epic journey back to its source as well!

Dish pulls out while DOJ steps in on Softbank/Sprint merger is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Since Aaron Swartz’s suicide two weeks ago—an incident largely blamed on the charges being levied against him—the ‘net has been grieving. And Anonymous has been doing that in its own special way: tearing shit up. In the latest of several attacks, they took down the U.S. Justice Department’s Sentencing Commission site and left behind a video threatening more cyber-carnage. More »

We can’t say we’re exactly surprised, but it’s still worth noting that the United States DOJ has contacted MetroPCS to ask for additional information about the company’s recently announced merger with T-Mobile. The adequately-named “Second Request” will be essential before an actual consolidation approval can be made, and MetroPCS has stated it plans on being fully cooperative so that it can “obtain the approval of the transaction as soon as possible.” Additionally, the Wireless for All carrier says it’s pretty confident on the Department of Justice’s ability to see the proposed merger is “both pro-competitive and pro-consumer.” In the end, it’s nothing more than a required hurdle before the two telcos can move on with their original plans. Official word from MetroPCS can be found inside the presser below.

Continue reading Department of Justice asks MetroPCS for more info regarding T-Mobile merger

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, T-Mobile

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Via: Android Central

Source: MetroPCS

Last December, Verizon struck a deal with several cable companies, including Comcast and Time Warner, to be able to leverage their AWS spectrum for wireless services. The deal has been pending approval from the FCC and DoJ, and today the regulatory bodies gave the gohead on the sale. The move is deemed to be “pro consumer” due to Verizon’s spectrum swap deal with T-Mobile in addition to making plans to allow other carriers to roam on its network.

The Chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, detailed how Verizon’s acquisition of the wireless spectrum wouldn’t be anti-competitive as a result. He went on to say, “Approval of the substantially modified transaction will promote the public interest and benefit consumers in several ways. By advancing U.S. leadership in 4G LTE deployment, the transaction marks another step in our effort to promote the U.S. innovation economy and make state-of-the-art broadband available to more people in more places.”

Verizon paid a total of $3.9 billion for the spectrum access, with $2.3 billion going to Comcast, $1.1 billion  to Time Warner, and $189 million to Bright House Networks. All the companies involved have agreed to license spectrum to each other as part of the sale, and the cable companies will also gain the right to resell some of Verizon’s wireless services in the future.

There is a catch, however: all four companies have agreed to restrict cross-marketing agreements until December 2016. That gives the FCC some peace of mind, and means that all four will still compete against each other in the meantime. Verizon still needs to divvy up some of its own spectrum as part of the agreement.

[via The Next Web]

FCC and DoJ approve Verizon’s cable spectrum deal is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Believe it or not, but that whole e-book price fixing fiasco is still an ongoing issue for the Justice Department. New York’s senior senator, Chuck Schumer wishes it wasn’t however, he simply wants the DOJ to drop the case and walk away. In a lengthy (factually questionable) op-ed in the Wall Street Journal the distinguished gentleman from the great state of New York said that a successful suit against Apple (he didn’t bother to call out the others involved) would set the e-book industry back several years and allow Amazon to dominate the market unchallenged. He also makes a broader call for the administration to develop more clear guidelines for deciding what non-merger cases to pursue. Unfortunately, we have to point out, that his argument is undercut by some questionable data referenced in the editorial. According to Schumer Amazon once owned 90 percent of the e-book market — a number that, if true, most certainly predates the release of the Nook. This is followed by an insinuation that Apple all but single-handedly toppled the retail giant with the launch of iBooks, cutting Amazons market share to just 60 percent. While the latter number sounds about right we’d hesitate to lay responsibility for that 30 point drop entirely at Apple’s feet. To dig into Schumers op-ed yourself hit up the source link.

Senator Schumer calls on DOJ to drop e-book price-fixing suit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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