Jan 5 (Reuters) – AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is on track to finish
its wireless network upgrade with faster mobile Web services by
the end of 2013, having exceeded its target for 2011, a top
executive said.

By the end of last year the company had extended its new
high-speed service to markets of 74 million people, surpassing
its previous target of 70 million, John Stankey, AT&T’s head of
business solutions, said at a conference on Thursday.

Jan 3 (Reuters) – Investment bank JPMorgan upgraded
its recommendation for Cisco Systems (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to “overweight”
and raised its price target for the network equipment maker on
expectations of a rebound in public sector spending and improved
margins in 2012.

Cisco stock was up 3.4 percent to $18.65 in midday trading
in New York on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration cleared the way for states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.

A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites.

By Nicola Leske and Sinead Carew

(Reuters) – AT&T has dropped its controversial $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. wireless unit, bowing to fierce regulatory opposition and leaving both companies scrambling for alternatives.

AT&T will have to find another way to address its shortage of wireless airwaves while Deutsche Telekom has to go back to the drawing board on what to do with T-Mobile USA, the struggling U.S. business it had desperately wanted to shed.

Dec 19 (Reuters) – AT&T has dropped its
controversial $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom’s
U.S. wireless unit, bowing to fierce regulatory opposition and
leaving both companies scrambling for alternatives.

AT&T will have to find another way to address its shortage
of wireless airwaves while Deutsche Telekom has to go back to
the drawing board on what to do with T-Mobile USA, the
struggling U.S. business it had desperately wanted to shed.

By Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – AT&T has dropped its controversial $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom’s wireless U.S. unit, bowing to regulatory opposition over the deal that would have made it the largest cellphone operator in the country.

AT&T had said it urgently needed to buy T-Mobile USA to help overcome a spectrum shortage, while Deutsche Telekom saw it as a way to exit the U.S. market to focus on its European operations. Once a cash cow, T-Mobile USA has been loosing customers.

Dec 12 (Reuters) – Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) warned that
fourth-quarter results would miss its previous forecast due to
hard disk drive supply shortages caused by floods in Thailand.

Thailand said last month that output of hard disk drives
fell 52.4 percent in October from a year earlier as the worst
flooding in 50 years swamped factories. [ID:nL4E7M91KZ]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plans to forge ahead with its deal to buy Deutsche Telekom’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) U.S. wireless unit despite fierce regulatory opposition, and it has the financial resources to close the acquisition quickly, a top executive said on Wednesday.

“We continue to move forward with our efforts to complete the T-Mobile transaction…and we will continue to pursue the sale,” AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said at the UBS media conference in New York.

By Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – Cisco Systems Inc is stepping up its push to sell its Cius tablet computers to corporate customers, defying skeptics who say the product is short of the sex appeal and brand recognition it would need to win over the workforce.

In a sign of its confidence, Cisco says it will soon introduce a 4G version of the Cius, an upgrade to the 7-inch tablet computer that it began shipping to corporate customers in August. Cius, which plugs into a phone docking station, is built on Google Inc’s Android operating software.

Dec 2 (Reuters) – Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is stepping
up its push to sell its Cius tablet computers to corporate
customers, defying skeptics who say the product is short of the
sex appeal and brand recognition it would need to win over the
workforce.

In a sign of its confidence, Cisco says it will soon
introduce a 4G version of the Cius, an upgrade to the 7-inch
tablet computer that it began shipping to corporate customers
in August. Cius, which plugs into a phone docking station, is
built on Google Inc’s (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Android operating software.