Dallas – AT&T
and Deutsche Telekom have dropped plans for AT&T to acquire Deutsche
Telekom’s T-Mobile network in the U.S.
AT&T will recognize
a pretax accounting charge of $4 billion in the fourth quarter to reflect a
break-up fee of $3 billion plus $1 billion in AT&T spectrum. AT&T also
said it will enter a mutually beneficial roaming agreement with Deutsche
Telekom.
The merger “would
have offered an interim solution to [the country’s wireless] spectrum shortage,”
AT&T contended in a written statement. “In the absence of such steps,
customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.”
“To meet the needs of our customers, we will
continue to invest [in the AT&T network],” said Randall Stephenson,
AT&T chairman/CEO. “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.”
