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Preventing Economic Overheating; Economy Shrank Even Less; Midwest Still Struggling

Apple begins to end its iPhone exclusivity as Vodafone on Tuesday announced it will join France Telecom's Orange and Telefonica's O2 in selling the phone in Britain.

As reported earlier this week, AT&T began to deliver multimedia messaging service (MMS) for iPhones in the U.S. on Friday.

AT&T Inc said any new net neutrality rules imposed by U.S. regulators need to apply to Web companies like Google Inc as much as to phone companies to ensure a level playing field.

The Connecticut state attorney general called on AT&T Inc on Wednesday to abandon plans for 2,500 new layoffs and criticized the phone company for deteriorating services in the state.

iPhone users will be able to start sending multimedia messages as of Friday, Sept. 25, AT&T said in a text message to its clients.

Pay practices, such as excessive golden parachutes, golden coffins and multi-year employment agreements with generous severances, should be avoided, a report on compensation to be released on Monday said.

Google Inc said Apple Inc rejected its Google Voice application for the popular iPhone, contradicting Apple's statement to regulators last month.

The Next Foreclosure Crisis; Telecom Chief Mixed on Economy; Employers to Bear Brunt

Top U.S. telecom executives gave a mixed outlook for the U.S. economy on Thursday, citing a lack of job creation, even as AT&T Inc CEO said the company will add more mobile customers this quarter than last.

AT&T Inc expects sales to business customers to stay flat for a while, although growth may return in the second half of 2010, Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Thursday.

EU antitrust regulators are in touch with Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc about their search engine deal, a source familiar with the situation said, with the talks seen more as exploratory than indicating any competition concerns.

EU antitrust regulators are in touch with Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc about their search engine deal, a source familiar with the situation said, with the talks seen more as exploratory than indicating any competition concerns.

Deutsche Telekom has not taken a decision on any option that could change its position in the U.S. market and is not planning to do so in the immediate future, two sources familiar with the company said.

'Contrivance' Rejected; Obama's Wall St Push; Job Cuts Still Coming

Sprint Nextel Corp shares jumped 14 percent on speculation that the No. 3 U.S. mobile service might be bought by Deutsche Telekom even as many analysts said such a deal would be very difficult to pull off.

Talk of a takeover of Sprint Nextel by Deutsche Telekom sent the German company's shares down 1.4 percent and boosted the U.S. mobile operator's stock by 11 percent in pre-market trade on Monday.

Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA plan to merge their British mobile units, responding to intense competition with a venture that would grab top spot in the crowded UK market.

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom have launched exclusive talks to merge their British mobile units in a joint venture that would grab the top spot in the cut-throat UK market.

Japan's Toshiba Corp plans to bid for French nuclear group Areva's power transmission and distribution unit, four sources with direct knowledge of the situation said, in a deal that could top $5 billion.

Nokia Oyj said on Thursday it would start to open its software platforms to external developers in a bid to boost the quantity and quality of software for Nokia phones.

China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou said on Monday that the nation's biggest mobile provider is still in talk with Apple on iPhone, echoing Apple China's statement that its three-year agreement with China Unicom is not exclusive to the carrier.

Chinese regulators could decide whether to approve a domestic firm's bid for General Motors' GM.UL Hummer brand based on commercial, not political, factors, a government academic with one of the regulators said at the China Investment Summit on Monday.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union urged shareholders of FedEx Corp on Monday to back its effort to separate the positions of chairman and chief executive at the U.S. package delivery giant.

U.S. phone company AT&T (T.N) is in talks to buy a stake in Indian state-owned telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd [BSNL.UL], the Economic Times said on Monday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the development.

A U.S. court struck down a rule limiting a cable company to no more than 30 percent of the subscription television market, a victory for companies like Comcast Corp that could spark many industry deals.

A U.S. court struck down a rule limiting a cable company to no more than 30 percent of the subscription television market, a victory for companies like Comcast Corp that could spark many industry deals.

WASHINGTON - A U.S. court struck down a rule limiting a cable company to no more than 30 percent of the pay television market, a victory for companies like Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) that could spark a wave of industry mergers.