merger

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

Bloomberg today revived a long-simmering story in the wireless world when it reported that Deutsche Telekom is considering selling its T-Mobile USA subsidiary to Sprint Nextel. A deal is nowhere near definite, sources told Bloomberg, but the two companies are debating a valuation for the country's fourth-largest carrier.

More merger mania Mergers between wireless carriers do happen--remember that Sprint and Nextel got hitched almost six years ago--and the possibility of a T-Mobile/Sprint marriage has been bounced around since 2009. … Read more

It's official. Comcast has completed its acquisition of NBC Universal.

On Saturday, the cable giant announced that the transaction is complete. Comcast now owns 51 percent of NBC Universal. General Electric still owns 49 percent of the media conglomerate. The new company, which will be called NBC Universal, is valued at $37 billion.

The deal was originally announced in December 2009. The Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice gave the final blessings for the deal earlier this month. Regulators imposed several conditions on the deal to ensure that Comcast would not stifle competition, especially when it … Read more

Comcast and NBC Universal have jumped the last regulatory hurdle before making their multibillion-dollar marriage a reality, but what does it all mean to average consumers?

Earlier this week the companies, which are planning to form a joint venture that Comcast will control, got approval from both the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. The companies are expected to finalize the deal by the end of January.

The combination of the cable giant and media conglomerate has some watchdog groups and opponents of big mergers, such as FCC commissioner Michael Copps, wary. They are concerned that … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice today approved a deal to create a joint venture between cable giant Comcast and NBC Universal.

In a 4-1 vote, the FCC determined that the deal is in the nation's public interest. The Justice Department also issued a statement that it has approved the union, which will be the first time a cable company has merged with a major TV network. The new joint venture, which will be majority-owned by Comcast, will become a media powerhouse joining the nation's largest cable operator with one of the leading … Read more

The deal giving Comcast a controlling stake in NBC Universal could finally be approved by the FCC, followed by the U.S. Department of Justice, as early as this week, according to reports.

According to reports in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Hollywood news site The Wrap citing anonymous sources, the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department will finally pave the way for the Comcast-NBC Universal deal to close by the end of the month.

The $37 billion merger between the companies has been a long time coming. The deal, which was first announced in 2009, … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission is a step closer to approving the $37 billion joint venture between Comcast and General Electric's NBC Universal.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave his blessing today to the new joint venture, which was announced a year ago. He circulated an order among the four other FCC commissioners stating that he believes the venture, which will be controlled by cable giant Comcast, will be in the public interest, paving the way for the full FCC to approve the marriage between the two companies.

That full FCC approval isn't expected until January. The deal must also … Read more

Comcast today said its proposed deal to acquire control of General Electric's NBC Universal won't get regulatory approval by the end of the year, as the company had hoped.

The cable giant issued a statement saying that even though the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice have made "substantial progress toward approval," it simply doesn't have enough time this year to complete the transaction, which was announced at the end of 2009.

"Because of the lead time required to prepare for a close, it now appears that we will not be able to … Read more

One big detail that has been unclear since Attachmate's acquisition of Novell last month has been the destiny of the 882 patents that are set to be handed over to CPTN Holdings LLC--a consortium of technology companies that was organized by Microsoft.

Would Microsoft be getting all those patents, or would it have to share them with the other companies? More importantly--who are the other "technology companies" that make up the group?

While the first question remains unanswered, the second part of the equation is coming into view this morning, with blog FOSS Patents unearthing a merger filing … Read more

In the entertainment press, reporters love to speculate over whether Brad and Angelina will finally get hitched. In the tech world, it's the decidedly unsexier AOL and Yahoo.

There's been a long parade of rumors suggesting that AOL may be looking to either ditch its not-dead-yet dial-up access business or merge with fellow attempting-a-turnaround tech conglomerate Yahoo; now, a report today from Reuters suggests it's attempting to do both. According to Reuters, AOL is exploring a "complicated series of transactions" in which it would sell off its access business to a prospective buyer and then … Read more