Telecom giant AT&T (T) is buying T-Mobile USA from Deutche Telekom (DTEGY) for $39 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal is for $25 billion in cash and the balance in stock. Deutche Telekom will get an 8% stake in AT&T.
This is a game changer. Now AT&T will have one-third more customers than Verizon (VZ) and twice as many as Sprint Nextel (S). The new AT&T will have about 130 million subscribers. AT&T will have nearly 80% of its business in wireless.

I have reiterated my buy recommendation on Canadian telecommunications giant BCE Inc. (BCE) in the latest issue of The Canada Report newsletter.

I originally advised buying the stock in December 2008 when it was trading at $17.76 following the collapse of a multi-billion dollar bid to take the company private. At the time, I felt that investors were overreacting to the news and throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

The wireless communication world is about to receive a new entrant, as the country's third-largest cable company will start a cellular network in three areas today. The company? Cox Communications.

Before you think that this wireless network will be available across the U.S., Cox's wireless offerings will be available in Orange County, California; Omaha, Nebraska; and Hampton Roads, Virginia. These three locales are where Cox is the local cable company, and they hold roughly 1.5 million residents.

NTP, a Richmond, VA.-based company, has filed lawsuits against Apple (AAPL), Motorola (MOT), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG) and others, claiming that they all violate the patents this company holds. NTP, in recent years, has made a business out of suing wireless companies.

The beneficiary? Research In Motion (RIMM) , whose stock rose 7% on the news.

Despite the market's volatility, shares of Apple (AAPL) remain relatively stable as investors wait for Steve Job's presentation later today at Apple's annual developer's conference in San Francisco. It's widely expected that Jobs will announce the next iPhone, which will operate on fourth generation (4G) high-speed wireless networks.

Given the tough market, it's unlikely that such news will give Apple's stock much of a bounce. Shares trade around $254 per share. But the news of a new iPhone may help to support the stock and at current levels, Apple's shares look attractive.

A slight change of stance and high expectations for wireless devices other than phones might describe the current business direction for AT&T Inc. (T). Although still the very picture of stability, AT&T gave investors a moment of pause recently when it disclosed that it had garnered its fewest number of new Q1 customer contracts since 2004. Market saturation is being blamed as the most likely culprit in this decline, and the iPhone is no longer acting as much of a buffer.

There is no need to worry though, indications are that AT&T has seen this development coming, and the company is making adjustments to maintain cash flow, even though that revenue might not be coming from the company's most traditional sources. An AP article reveals that AT&T has high expectations of success for wireless devices other than phones, and that the company is lining itself up with some of the manufacturers of these new gadgets.

Premiere Latin American wireless provider America Movil SAB de CV (AMX), first mentioned here on June 24, 2009 at a price of $36.47, remains a new business titan with promise.

Look America Movil to post 10-12% revenue growth in 2010, followed by 11-14% revenue growth in 2011, led by improving performance in two, key markets: Brazil and Mexico. Subscriber growth should remain in the strong 9-11% range.

It's extremely tough to survive in the retail consumer electronics space, especially with competitors like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). Yet, RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) continues to find ways push ahead.

Today, the company released its Q3 report. Revenues came in at $990 million, which was a nice beat on the Wall Street consensus (about $962 million). Net income was $37.4 million, or $0.30 per share, which compares to last year's earnings of $49.1 million, or $0.38 per share. Keep in mind that the company has increased spending on branding (for its new positioning as "The Shack," which appears to be getting traction).

Verizon Communications' (NYSE: VZ) shares have pulled-back from a high above $32 registered earlier this year, but you can view this move lower as a way to establish or to add to a VZ position, which is I'm reiterating my Buy rating for the company, first recommended on February 12, 2009 at a price of $29.86.

Verizon, which boasts 6 million landline subscribers, is still viewed by institutional investors as more old economy than new economy -- this despite being the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with about 88 million wireless subscribers. Further, VZ's FiOS broadband service continues to exceed expectations, and the company's recently raised dividend adds to the positive mix: not bad, for a 'stodgy' old company.

The only DOW component reporting earnings this morning is Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). The nation's largest wireless carrier reported second quarter numbers that fell inline with analyst estimates.

Going into this morning's earnings report, analysts polled by Thompson Financial expected Verizon to earn 63 cents per share. Excluding merger and various one-time labor costs, Verizon was able to match that number.

Tel-Aviv based Ceragon Networks (NASDAQ: CRNT) will be releasing its second quarter earnings on July 20. After a miserable first quarter, in which profits fell 95% over the year-ago quarter, investors are skittish about the stock's prospects. My view: for investors, Ceragon is a good long-term play.

Here's why. First, the company has got a great business. It is a key player in helping wireless carriers increase the speed at which data flows over their networks. The company's equipment connects wireless base stations to a mobile operator's main network, where traffic flows. It's this transmission technology that is critically important to carriers as demand for data services -- and for smartphones -- rises. And they are both rising.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) has been in deep trouble for a while now. For some untold reason, the company placed almost all its growth bets on its wireless division but has not produced a hit handset in years. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Samsung Electronics have been producing and selling all kinds of cutting-edge wireless handsets to carriers all over the world. What has Motorola been up to?

It's still producing handsets, but so many of the designs and marketing strategies have been commodities lately. Meanwhile, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has taken the mobile crown with the iPhone, and even Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) has risen from the dead with the new Palm Pre. Motorola was in such bad shape financially that it even suspended the spinoff of its mobile unit last year.

Today's economic (and credit market) conditions call for taking a page out of that great analysts' defensive play book: if we liked it at $27, we like it even more at $24.

The 'it' being AT&T's (NYSE: T) shares. AT&T shares walked in tandem with the market's great slide in 2008, but just as significant, the shares have been essentially unchanged since October 2008. In other words, shares were essentially unmoved by the greatest financial market and stock market turmoil since the 1930s.

"Well managed, dominant firms use downturns to become more powerful -- and that's definitely what Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) is up to," says Roger Conrad in The Utility Forecaster.

"Incorporated in 1924 as a unit of US-based ITT, the Spain-based company now serves 47 million customers in its home country, 150 million in 14 Latin American nations and 45 million elsewhere in Europe.

"Thus far in the recession, diversity and dominance of fast-growing markets has kept Telefonica growing. Overall global customer rolls increased by 15.2% through the third quarter 2008.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), which competes with Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), reported Q1 numbers after the bell on Wednesday. The data continue to show that all is not well with the world.

Demand for Qualcomm's products is down, and as far as management is concerned, earnings visibility just isn't in the cards due to the financial mess and its effect on the company's marketable securities. Talk about not inspiring confidence.

For the first quarter, Qualcomm delivered pro forma earnings per share of $0.31. That represented an ugly drop of 40% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues inched up 3% to $2.5 billion. The top line beat expectations, but the bottom line didn't come anywhere close as Wall Street was counting on $0.47 per share. Then again, what did any of us expect? It's tough out there in the world.