Wireless Carriers

The Justice Department filed suit Wednesday to block AT&T's proposed $39-billion takeover of wireless rival T-Mobile USA, with its top antitrust lawyer declaring, "Any way you look at this transaction, it is anticompetitive. " Only the most ideologically hidebound supporters of the deal ever claimed it would boost competition, however. The question has always been whether the benefits it could deliver would outweigh the loss of an innovative, low-priced service provider. That's a far murkier issue.

AT&T Inc. is considering whether to throw in the towel on its attempt to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, which would leave its smaller rival searching for another strategy to compete in the ever-tougher wireless world. AT&T, the Justice Department and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom were granted court approval Monday to halt all proceedings in the government's antitrust case against the acquisition for a month while the two wireless carriers figure out what to do next. AT&T said it and Deutsche Telekom would use the time "to evaluate all options," and both agreed with a court order to decide "whether they intend to proceed" with any transaction.

New rules proposed by the nation's chief communications regulator to ensure unfettered access to the Internet would level the online playing field as more people surf the Web on mobile devices, but the plan has wireless carriers in an uproar. Monday's proposal by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski would ensure that consumers would be able to get whatever content they want on the Internet and to use any service they want. But the telecommunications and the cable companies that control both land-line and wireless access to the Internet argue that some customers who download large amounts of data, such as a continuous flow of movies, can jam their networks.

Librarian of Congress James Billington seems to have hit a nerve among his employers when, on the advice of Register of Copyrights Maria A. Pallante, he decided to end consumers' right to unlock their cellphones. Lawmakers have introduced, or announced plans to introduce, at least five bills to overturn Billington's decision , which leaves consumers vulnerable to lawsuits if they circumvent the digital locks on their own phones . The ruling, which took effect in late January, eliminated a protection consumers had enjoyed since 2005, well before the iPhone persuaded the masses to start plunking down hundreds of dollars for a device that they used to get (in a simpler version)

With a majority of its members now appointees of Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Public Utilities Commission is poised to end its customary hands-off approach to regulating wireless carriers by ordering an investigation into AT&T Inc.'s proposed $39-billion takeover of T-Mobile USA. Thursday's vote on whether to launch a full-fledged investigation is the first major test of the newly reconstituted panel's willingness to take a more active role...

Federal regulators proposed fining three wireless carriers a combined $2.8 million for failing to give enough consumers cellphones equipped with emergency location technology. The Federal Communications Commission said it planned to fine Sprint Nextel Corp. $1.3 million, Alltel Corp. $1 million and United States Cellular Corp. $500,000. The companies have 30 days to argue why they should not be fined.

Nobody likes waiting on hold. If it's not the jazzy elevator music that drives you up the wall, it's the repeated "your call is important to us" message that serves not to calm you but instead to remind you that it's been a really long time and you're still on hold. Wireless companies seem not to have gotten the memo. According to a J.D.

Brothers Adam and Ben Mayberry, who sell T-shirts to the crowds outside San Jose Sharks games, say a small piece of hardware that plugs into their iPad and allows them to accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express has boosted sales and legitimized the curbside business. "I wouldn't know the first place to begin at taking payments, or credit card payments in general," Adam Mayberry, 31, said of the payment device offered by San Francisco start-up Square Inc. "It's a cool technology.

Wireless telephone companies including Verizon Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular Wireless will announce voluntary customer-rights standards for the industry in advance of plans by California regulators to impose such rules. The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Assn., an industry trade group that represents the wireless companies, will unveil its guidelines Tuesday in Washington.