In a conference call to press this afternoon, the FCC announced that it will grant AT&T’s request to formally withdraw its application to acquire T-Mobile US. In addition, the agency will also release a 109-page report today that discusses what it found over nine months of reviewing the merger. In short, the FCC found that the cons of the deal outweighed the pros, and AT&T is likely to build out its LTE network regardless of what happens with the carrier’s buyout of T-Mobile. The report determined that the merger would create too many network inefficiencies and job losses, and whatever cost savings that would be generated by the deal wouldn’t be passed on to the customer.

While the FCC won’t pursue the draft order signed by Chairman Julius Genachowski mandating the merger be brought before a Federal judge, AT&T isn’t completely done. It’s become a great deal harder — its dealings with the Department of Justice are still looming, and in the meantime Reuters is reporting that the carrier’s in talks with Leap Wireless to sell some of T-Mobile’s assets — mainly as a last-ditch effort to still gain the support of both governmental agencies. So this saga is far from over, but opponents of the merger can still sigh a breath of relief. Follow the break for AT&T and Sprint’s official responses to today’s decision.

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the mobile-phone maker that agreed to be bought this week for $12.5 billion by Google Inc., cannot solicit other offers, according to terms of the merger agreement published today.

All employees and directors of the company as well as outside advisers and legal counsel had to stop any solicitation of other proposals as of Aug. 15, the document states. Still, Motorola’s board has a fiduciary duty to consider any unsolicited superior proposal it may receive, according to the agreement.

Google, the world’s largest maker of smartphone software, is buying Motorola Mobility to gain mobile patents and expanding in the hardware business. Both boards have approved the takeover, which provides Motorola Mobility shareholders a 63 percent premium over the stock’s closing price on the trading day preceding the offer.

Motorola Mobility, based in Libertyville, Illinois, rose 11 cents to $38.13 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange. Google, based

in Mountain View, California, fell $5.85, or 1.1 percent, to $533.15 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Google has agreed to pay Motorola Mobility $2.5 billion if the deal falls through, the contract states. Motorola Mobility would pay $375 million if it decided not to sell to Google, according to the agreement.

Via: sfgate/bloomberg