AT&T says the proposed $39 billion transaction would bring 5,000 T-Mobile call center jobs back to the
"Our review of the information currently in our record suggests that AT&T's response on this issue remain incomplete," said Rick Kaplan, chief of the FCC's wireless communications bureau, in a letter to AT&T.
Kaplan also wants AT&T's data about the company's current workforce, as well as projections about the workforce after the merger, which would make AT&T the nation's largest cellphone carrier if approved.
AT&T, in response to Kaplan's letter, said it has made "significant job commitments," including job offer guarantees to T-Mobile employees and promises to keep the two companies'
Overall, AT&T claims the merger would create or maintain more than 96,000 U.S. jobs, a claim that could translate to political support for the merger, given the current unemployment situation in the U.S. Legislators from several states, as well as regulatory boards, have already thrown their support behind AT&T's plans, saying the merger is important to boost jobs as well as help their states' economies through infrastructure changes.
Other states, though, oppose the measure, fearing the matter will eliminate jobs.
The jobs question is just one concern AT&T must address as the merger plans go forward. The company also faces legal action from the Department of Justice and Sprint, which both have filed suits hoping to stop the merger.
Sprint, which would be in a distant fourth place if the merger goes through, claims AT&T's plans would stifle competition, while the DoJ says the deal will mean higher wireless prices for
AT&T is under pressure to settle the DoJ case, as the FCC rarely approves mergers opposed by the DoJ. A settlement would also allow the government and the Dallas, Texas-based wireless carrier to avoid long and costly litigation.
If AT&T can't alleviate the federal regulators concerns, its merger plans -- which for a long time seemed set in stone -- may be in jeopardy.
The Ontario-based company released a statement saying the crashes, which spread throughout Europe, Africa, India, the Middle East and Latin America, were caused by "a core switch failure within its infrastructure" and a failed back-up switch.
The company apologized for the "inconvenience" to the 70 million affected users, and said it is "working to clear that backlog and restore normal service as quickly as possible," but did not offer a time frame for restoration.
Over the past year, RIM has faced disappointing sales, second-quarter profit losses, and a downward spiral in the market. The company once dominated the mobile email service market, attracting major corporations because of their tightly secured programs.
But recently, as security features become more common, RIM's former clients have switched to other smartphones for their email functions as Apple and other phone makers gain ground in the enterprise sector.
The recent outages are further tarnishing RIM's reputation. BlackBerry Internet Service has failed before, but never for as long or on as large a scale. The frequency of outages has also increased, with widespread outages last year and a brief outage a few weeks ago. Particularly for businesses, three days of service interruptions is simply unacceptable.
RIM's sparse communication with its users regarding the issues hasn't helped matters. Users who were frustrated on Monday are furious today, venting on Twitter and Facebook, apparently from their desktops.
Some were able to find humor in the situation, jokingly asking "What did the one BBM user say to the other? Nothing."
Still, the outage is no laughing matter for RIM. With the holiday shopping season fast approaching and Apple's iPhone 4S release just two days away, the company must perform some type of damage control in order to avoid losing massive amounts of customers, particularly among its business clients.
Even once service is restored, memories of how the company dealt with its troubles could have harmful and lasting implications.
As Richard Windsor, a technology specialist for Nomura, said, "It's a blow upon a bruise. It comes at a bad time."
Motorola is expected to unveil a new version of the popular Razr at an event on October 18, as the company looks to create buzz around its products.
The company's invitation for the event showcases the words "faster, thinner, smarter and stronger" and touts a "next big innovation." Verizon is expected to sell the device before year's end to take advantage of the holiday season.
Analysts say the event may be a platform for Motorola to announce a number of different devices, but consensus is building it will show off the Motorola Spyder. The Spyder had gone by the codename Motorola Razr, due to a relaunch of the popular line.
The Razr was one of the most successful lines of feature phones ever, and Motorola may use the name to generate some excitement.
The Spyder-Razr is expected to have a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED touch screen and be capable of LTE speeds. Many analysts also expect it to be Motorola's first Android Ice Cream Sandwich device.
Motorola's announcement will likely come around the same time as Google and Samsung's reveal of the Galaxy Nexus Prime, also expected to be exclusive to Verizon's network. Samsung and Google were supposed to announce the device on October 11, but postponed the announcement out of respect Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who passed away last week.
The companies have promised a new date for the announcement very soon.
The Galaxy Nexus will be Google's flagship Android phone and also run the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the OS. The Nexus will likely go head to head with Motorola's new device, giving consumers the option between two high-profile Android devices this holiday season.
The two devices will give Google a strong launching pad for the next generation of its Android software, and also help the company pull buyers from Apple's iPhone 4S. Apple's new handset is already performing well in the pre-order process, and new handsets from Motorola and Samsung may help slow that momentum.
Motorola's most popular device on Verizon's network is currently the Droid Bionic, but if the October 18 announcement is everything the company says it will be, a new top-tier device may be around the corner.
