DobsonCommunications
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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]
AT&T buys Dobson Communications for a cool $2.8 billion
Seems while everybody in the US was lining up to buy an iPhone from AT&T, it was just finishing some spending of its own, namely the purchase of Dobson Communications -- operating as Cellular One. AT&T dropped $2.8 billion for Dobson plus assumed its debt which knocks the total up to the $5.1 billion mark, not chump change. The buyout of will pad AT&T's subscriber list with an additional 1.7 million users -- perhaps even lifting them to number one (if they weren't already) in wireless subscribers. Not a bad bit of business for AT&T, now we know where the ridiculous loads of cash from iPhone sales will go. No news on dates, but we will likely hear more in the coming days.[Thanks, Eric]
