AT&T to take a $4bn T-Mobile USA charge

24th Nov 2011 12:50

US telecoms titan AT&T will be taking a $4bn charge in the fourth quarter due to the possible collapse of the T-Mobile USA acquisition from Deutsche Telekom. The news was broken by German telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom, which said: "AT&T has announced it expects to recognise a pre-tax accounting charge to reflect the potential break up fees due to Deutsche Telekom in the event that the transaction does not receive regulatory approval."The US stock market is closed today for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.The proposed sale has run into opposition from the authorities in the US, with first the Justice Department and then the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) raising objections.FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has proposed that AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile's US business be subject to a hearing before an administrative law judge.That prompted Deutsche Telekom and AT&T to withdraw their pending applications for FCC approval of the deal, and concentrate their firepower on lobbying the Justice Department. If the Justice Department is won over, the case is tossed back to the FCC for approval.In other news, AT&T and Mexican group America Movil signed a strategic collaboration agreement to explore new communication distribution channels for multinational corporations in Latin America and the rest of the world.With this alliance, the telecoms giants hope to take market share away from Telefonica and compete with other global operators looking to increase their presence in the region such as BT and France Telecom.AT&T closed at $27.60 yesterday.M.D./jh