AT&T Drops Bid to Acquire T-Mobile USA

AT&T officially abandoned its effort to acquire T-Mobile USA. The break-up of the deal requires AT&T to pay Deutsche Telekom $4 billion, which AT&T will recognize as a pre-tax accounting charge this quarter.


“AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution,�? said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest. However, adding capacity to meet these needs will require policymakers to do two things. First, in the near term, they should allow the free markets to work so that additional spectrum is available to meet the immediate needs of the U.S. wireless industry, including expeditiously approving our acquisition of unused Qualcomm spectrum currently pending before the FCC. Second, policymakers should enact legislation to meet our nation’s longer-term spectrum needs.


AT&T as also entered into a roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom.
http://www.att.comAT&T first announced its $39 billion bid to acquire T-Mobile USA on March 21, 2011.