Power Breakfast: AT&T to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion, nuclear plants, Google in China, bank suit

The big business news Sunday was the announcement that AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telecom in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $39 billion. That will make AT&T the largest cellphone company in the U.S., surpassing Verizon.

AT&T is based in Dallas, but its wireless unit, AT&T Mobility, is headquartered in Atlanta.

The deal will provide AT&T with additional spectrum for data-hungry smart phone users, Jeff Kagan, a wireless industry analyst from Atlanta, told AJC reporter M.B. Pell. The company has suffered from a lack of capacity due to the proliferation of smart phones, Pell writes.

“It’s a smart move for AT&T,” Kagan said. “Ultimately, I think, since the company and customers are demanding more, this is going to be good.”

The deal would reduce the number of wireless carriers with national coverage from four to three. It still needs to be approved by federal regulators, amid concerns that the consolidation of these companies will decrease competition and cause costs to rise for consumers, Pell writes. Kagan, however, expects the merger to be approved and not result in higher costs.

Also in the AJC:

• High stakes for Aflac in Japan
• Georgians embrace jobs, not nuke fears
• Nuclear plant Vogtle’s budget burden debated
• Retail receipts going digital
• Jacoby buys second closed Ford plant
• Lawsuit points to Silverton Bank’s former CEO

In other media:

• Death toll for Japan disaster to top 18,000
• Oil prices near $103 as allied coalition bombs Libya
• Google accuses China of blocking Gmail service
• States push harder for online sales tax collection

- Henry Unger, The Biz Beat

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