dobson
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AT&T forced to pay $2 million for violating court orders in Dobson acquisition
You just thought that whole AT&T-Dobson Communications tie up was completely over. Turns out, AT&T is now being asked to pay $2 million as part of a civil settlement for violating a pair of court orders related to the acquisition. According to a petition filed by the Department of Justice, the carrier failed to fulfill its obligations when divesting mobile wireless businesses in three rural service areas (two in Kentucky and one in Oklahoma). In essence, AT&T personnel reportedly obtained "unauthorized access to the divested businesses' competitively sensitive customer information, and in some situations used it to solicit and win away the divested businesses' customers," and it doesn't take a lawyer to understand how sketch that is. Tsk, tsk, AT&T.[Via RCRWireless]
AT&T and Verizon finalize Rural Cellular / Dobson asset swap
Way back in autumn of last year, AT&T agreed to give up seven markets in its Dobson Communications buy in order to get the all-important FCC stamp of approval; just a few months ago, Verizon Wireless was forced to sell licenses in six markets in order to improve competition in the Rural Cellular markets that it was acquiring. Now, that whole nightmare of red tape has been all wrapped up, as suits and cube dwellers no doubt frantically tried to tie up loose ends before the New Year that should've been knotted weeks ago. Essentially, the deal means that AT&T Mobility has acquired some former Rural Cellular properties previously acquired by Verizon Wireless, while VZW has acquired from AT&T Mobility some former Dobson Communications properties. All the nitty-gritty details are in the read link below should you care to venture down.[Via phonescoop]
Dobson buyout given thumbs-up by FCC
That $2.8 billion buyout involing AT&T and Dobson Communications has finally been okayed by the almight Federal Communications Comission. Nearly a month after the Justice Department gave its nod of approval to the sale, the FCC has also given a thumbs-up to the idea and thrown in a few stipulations to boot. In green-lighting the transfer of licenses from Dobson to AT&T, the agency found that "likely public interest benefits of the merger outweigh any potential public interest harms except in four markets in Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas." Aside from that minor hitch, everything else looks to be a-okay for AT&T to snap up most of Dobson's ~1.7 million subscribers.[Via RCRNews, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
AT&T to concede seven markets in Dobson buy
The biggest thing standing in the way of government approval of AT&T's proposed $2.8 billion acquisition of Dobson has been the concern over loss of competition in markets currently served by both carriers -- and it turns out that's a concern AT&T's been working to address from the beginning. In a court filing by the Department of Justice's anti-trust peeps today, it was revealed that AT&T's cool with shedding seven Dobson markets in five states along with Dobson's "Cellular One" brand in order to secure the feds' seal of approval. All the affected markets are rural and apparently represent a tiny percentage of Dobson's customer base (let alone AT&T's) so it doesn't look like anyone's getting too worked up about the sitch. FCC approval of the deal is expected shortly, so by all accounts, the merger looks like a done deal. Welcome to the fold, Dobson customers.
