Today AT&T withdrew it’s bid to purchase T-Mobile deciding instead to take a $4 billion charge off. I expect T-Mobile to
eventually fade away into the Bavarian sunset unless it finds a way to build out a true 4G network and remain competitive
with AT&T and Verizon. While opponents to the transaction begin their holiday season on a high note, next year may not be that grand for T-Mobile’s new subscribers.

I expect rates to go up as a result of the Obama Administration’s preference for populism as opposed to good old fashioned
economics. Obviously the Justice Department does not read the U.S. Department of Labor’s jobs report. Some 315,000 people left the labor force in November. Unemployment for Blacks and Hispanics exceed the national average. These are the same consumers that subscribe to T-Mobile’s services. As the economy continues to flat line, more consumers seeking to offset long term unemployment by reducing household bills will gravitate to T-Mobile’s offerings.

The problem is that given T-Mobile’s smaller network, it will have to increase prices or curtail its services in order to meet the increasing demand. Just as prices are going up and quality of services are falling, a credit constrained parent, Duetsche Telekom, may decide to pull out of the U.S. market. Don’t know if the Justice Department knows this, but things aren’t so hot in Europe right now.

Should the Europeans decide to shore up their central banks with more capital, we may see rates climbing in Europe which will make getting financing even tougher for Deutsche Telekom.

For all its talk about global competitiveness, the Obama Admonistration appears to have dropped the ball on understanding
the meaning and impact of a global economy.

The GOP showdown in Ames, Iowa was a missed opportunity for the GOP to show that they are indeed a 21^st century party. Nary a one, including the two former high-powered corporate CEOs, Herman Cain and Willard “Mitt” Romney, spoke about broadband as a driver of economic opportunity.

The candidates could have done with IIA strategic counselor Henry M. Rivera’s insights into broadband. As reported on IIA’s blog, The Podium. Mr. Rivera dropped some knowledge on the attendees of the 2011 Educational Conference of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement regarding how important broadband is to the economic development of the Latino community. Here is part of Mr. Rivera’s take on why broadband is an economic driver:

“First, broadband promotes economic growth and jobs. High speed connections accelerate business development by providing new opportunities for innovation, expansion and e-commerce. A 2010 Communication Workers of America study shows that every additional $5 billion invested in broadband infrastructure creates 250,000 jobs — 100,000 direct and indirect jobs from telecom and IT equipment spending plus another 150,000 in “network effects” spurring new online applications and services; and, with every percentage point increase in broadband penetration, employment expands by nearly 300,000 jobs. Broadband networks attract investment to areas that would not otherwise attract it, such as rural and inner-city areas, thus promoting the economic development of those areas. This is critical, especially in today’s economy.”

These are solid arguments for economic development and broadband. Too bad the GOP couldn’t make the connection.

A blog post on Media Matters for America’s website spent so much time emphasizing an alleged and tenuous conflict of interest involving Henry Rivera and AT&T that it completely missed the very significant issue of what a failure to approve AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile USA would mean to minority access to the Internet.

Pew Research found that while 59% of adult Americans go online via wireless devices, blacks and Latinos are more likely to own a cell phone (87%) versus whites (80%). In addition, 64% of African Americans and 63% of Latinos access the Internet via wireless devices.

This data supports Mr. Rivera’s view that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile should be approved. Since T-Mobile is not in a position to expand its 4G network, blacks and Latinos would not enjoy the benefits of expanded 4g coverage, at least in the short run.

Two technological achievements amaze me still to this very day: airplanes and cell phones. I’ve often said I’d rather be in the cockpit of a Cessna flying from Frederick to Baltimore rather than driving five minutes to the grocery store. It’s a lot safer and saner in the air.

The telephone also amazes me. I still look at it as two cans connected by a string, but with a bunch of electronics that help to boost the signal. Cell phones are even more amazing, but in the end are merely suped up radios. When you look at the history of cell phones and airplanes, their early uses share a common thread: productivity.

Both technologies were developed and promoted to make commerce easier. While one technology carried mail and business passengers, the other carried voice messages. Today the cell phone can do much more than carry voice messages, but as an article by the Associated Press’ Jesse Washington points out, minorities are not doing much with today’s 4G technology except for entertaining ourselves.

Mr. Washington described how African Americans and Latinos appear not to be using mobile technology for productive purposes, placing a greater emphasis on video games and social networks. It’s too bad, especially given the Obama administration’s push to build out our digital infrastructure. It’s part of his winning the future vision.

But if we are to out-compete, out-build, and out-innovate in order to get our economy moving again, I think that all portions of the population will have to focus on the substance of commerce and creation. So far I haven’t come across much of any policies designed to inspire a productive mindset versus the uber-focus on consumption.

Entertainment is good. It’s fun. Just ask Justin Bieber. But given the state of joblessness, and the restructuring of the workplace and its needs, I’d prefer some of Esperanza Spaulding’s depth right about now.

Thanks to Jeneba Ghatt at Jeneba Speaks for keeping the topic of minority representation at the forefront.

I always expect both sides of the political spectrum to give but mere lip service to the issue of minority representation in media. That this Democratic-controlled FCC would be no different is not surprising.

They have given themselves two convenient excuses; the national broadband plan and net neutrality. Unfortunately for the FCC, both initiatives currently shed no fruit. Maybe the FCC should have erred on the side of doing what is currently mandated by rule, overseeing the status of minorities in media, versus wasting time on net neutrality.