The move, approved by the boards of both companies today, will make AT&T a major player in the wireless telecom sector pending regulatory review.
The move will affect over 130 million people if it is approved. The two companies have stated that it will take them in excess of 12 months to get through all the bureaucracy if the deal is indeed agreed upon.
Of course there couldn't be news this big without controversy. As reported by Endgaget.com, the move will install a de facto GSM monopoly in the United States as there will only be major carriers. Horrible.
But don't worry! At&t paints the situation as a "rosy garden of straight-forward synergies". Yea, right.
The company touts many advantages of its customers thanks to its newly annexed spectrum. T mobile's sprectrum will not compliment At&t's 700MHz licenses as it moves to 4G.
If none of this happens however, and the agreement doesn't pass with regulatory approval, At&t will owe T Mobile $3 billion in breakup fees. Interesting.
Heres a quick video with all the details and the deals affect on Germany and the stock markets:
"Photoautomat" as its said, was popular among teens and children in the '70s but with photography as a hobby being rediscovered by Germans -- Berliners in particularly -- the booths have made a resurgence in bars and art galleries all over Europe. There's no doubt in my mind this trend will likely hop the pond very soon.
Booths are popping up in various places all around Europe. Bars and clubs and even interior galleries of museums in Paris are often inundated with socialites and jet-setters who often use the booths.
There are 11 booths in Germnay and they are maintained by the same two guys that accidentally kick-started the trend in 2005: Asger Doenst and Ole Kretschmann.
Getting the idea after they restored one for fun in 2003, it took two years and a lot of trial and error before they could start their business venture and bring them to the streets of Germany.
For two euros, anyone can step inside the booth, envision it's 1970 again, take some zany photographs, and receive their retro black and white photos within seconds.
Now, these men and their volunteers maintain these booths -- and they are in need of daily repair -- for free; that is, they don't make money from them. That's love, especially when you consider that Doenst personally thinks that Berlin is "disgusting"; which is the reason they require so much cleaning.
Whereas photo booths in the rest of Europe are becoming poplar in clubs and bars, these booths in Germany are in the public along sidewalks and shopping centers. Perhaps they could find a way to profit from their idea is by better researching their local logistics and potentially exporting it to America
For example, I've been to Germany, and just like these booths they also have public toilets that are literally just giant rooms you walk into -- once you pay of course -- where you can freshen up. They could contact the city and perhaps integrate photo booth technology in those bathrooms as opposed to having actual photo booths from the '70s that require constant work.
Here are some things I found doing a simple search for technology available regarding photo booths:
This week, German business, as well as their strongest lobbying groups have pushed for stronger financial responsibility within the European Unions. For months, Germany has been arguing the importance of a bailout fund and for every nation trading the Euro to be involved.
In January, Germany's finance minster agreed with Chancellor Merkel's plans to pursue a plan to establish a Bailout Fund for the European Union. Now, It seems those plans have materialized into a collective agreement including a provision asking nations to openly face sanctions if they violate the economic plan's budgetary rules.
Through a press release sent out on Friday, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, hoped the right signals would be sent to neighboring countries to show financial markets that Europe is resolved to defend its currency.
"The incentive for solid fiscal policy must be strengthened through debt breaks in national constitutions. If a country breaks the stability and growth pact, sanctions must come automatically," it read.
Another interesting side to this story is that Germany also advocates the end of financial help to countries in need. At this stage in development they said, the European Central Bank should stop buying their debt.
Nations undergoing conflicts or central bank problems, the article has said, opposed Germany, and the overall idea advocating reform.
