Challenge Of T-Mobile Deal

AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA fought back against the Justice Department's challenge to their proposed merger, arguing the deal would "usher in more intense competition."

AT&T and T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, argued in a federal court filing on Friday that the massive $39 billion deal would free up spectrum and create new capacity for Americans whose mobile devices are transmitting increasingly large amounts of data.
"The Justice Department's complaint fails to come to grips with the significant efficiencies this transaction will generate," the companies said in their filing.
In the brief, AT&T asked the court to allow its purchase of T-Mobile to go forward and to require the Justice Department to pay its costs in the challenge.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping the deal last week, saying the acquisition of T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 carrier, by AT&T, the No. 2, would harm competition in the wireless market and lead to higher prices.
The department, in particular, seemed determined to preserve T-Mobile as an innovative, discount carrier that held down wireless prices.
Responding to that concern, AT&T said "T-Mobile is not a unique or material competitive constraint on AT&T."
"T-Mobile has not been a meaningful or unique innovator in terms of network development and deployment, nor is it likely to become one in the foreseeable future," AT&T said in the filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The deal partners took issue with the Justice Department's review of the effect of the merger on a national basis instead of on a local basis. They argued that more than 90 percent of U.S. consumers currently have at least five wireless carriers to choose from in their local markets.
They also disputed the method the Justice Department used to analyze the deal, saying it was too simplistic.
If the merger goes through, AT&T will unseat Verizon Wireless as the No. 1 U.S. mobile carrier. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.
"We continue to believe this transaction as currently proposed is anti-competitive and harmful to consumers," Justice Department Spokesperson Gina Talamona said. "We will respond further in our court filing."
The lawsuit is the biggest antitrust challenge yet by the Obama administration.

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Dismissed IAF officer: Anjali Hangs Herself

More than six years after former Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Anjali Gupta became the first woman to be court-martialled, she committed suicide at a family friend's residence in Bhopal. She was found hanging on Sunday, India Today reported

According to police, Anjali was alone in the house of IAF Group Captain Amit Gupta when she allegedly took the extreme step. She had been working with a private company since her dismissal from the IAF.
The police said Anjali had arrived in Bhopal on September 7 from Bangalore, where she was employed. Group Captain Amit told the police that he had gone to Delhi for the engagement of his son on September 8. Though he asked Anjali to come along, the latter insisted on staying at his house.
In 2008, Anjali had claimed that her Commanding Officer, the Second-in-Command and the adjutant, had been sexually harassing her. When protested, she was threatened to be sent away on temporary duty and later was put under house arrest. Her mother and brother were allegedly thrown out of the Kalka military station.
Acting on a complaint by Anjali, the General Court Martial (GCM) assembled at Udhampur (J&K) in August 2010, directed to forfeit six-year service of the accused Colonel for the purpose of promotion and also sentenced severe reprimand.
According to the complaint, Col Anurodh Mishra of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (EME) battalion allegedly called Anjali at his residence on the pretext of office-related instructions and misbehaved with her.
The police team also found a 15 litre can and two bottles filled with petrol, at the spot where Anjali was found hanging. Amit pleaded ignorance about the fuel. Police now also suspect that she might have contemplated setting herself on fire before she decided upon hanging.

Groupon Cuts Marketing Costs

Groupon Inc's second-quarter loss more than doubled as it hired more than 1,000 new employees, even though the Internet daily deals company trimmed back its marketing costs.
Revenue rose to $878 million in the second quarter compared with $644.7 million in the first quarter, and rose more than 900 percent from $87.3 million in the second quarter of 2010, the company said in the S-1 filing, an update of its original filing for its initial public offering.
The numbers show that Groupon's growth slowed from the first quarter. Revenue was up 36 percent in the second quarter, below growth of 63 percent in the first quarter.
The second-quarter net loss attributable to Groupon was $102.7 million, in line with the first quarter and more than double the $36.8 million loss from the second quarter of 2010.
In June, Groupon filed to raise $750 million in an IPO. The move revealed a company growing quickly, but losing money. Some analysts have questioned a business model vulnerable to competition from companies like Google Inc, and which relies on a huge, costly sales staff to enlist merchants and handle customer service.
Some analysts worry that the company will keep having to spend large amounts of money to attract and retain customers.
Marketing costs fell to $170.5 million in the second quarter, according to the filing. Groupon spent $208 million on marketing during the first quarter, up from $4 million in the same period a year earlier.
That spending is bringing more users to the site. Subscribers jumped to 115.7 million from 83.1 million at the end of the first quarter, the company said in its filing, confirming a Reuters report last week.
But Groupon said about 40 percent of its subscribers in North America came through word of mouth, a new disclosure. That suggests Groupon did not have to spend as much on marketing to attract subscribers.
ACCOUNTING FOR MARKETING EXPENSES
Selling, general and administrative expenses rose to $273 million in the second quarter from $178.9 million in the first. That was driven by hiring: Groupon hired more than 1,000 employees in the period, lifting its sales force to more than 4,800 people.
Caving in to investor pressure, Groupon also dropped references to a financial metric it touted as a good indicator of its performance.
Concern about marketing costs led some to question Groupon's use of "adjusted consolidated segment operating income", or ACSOI, which excludes online marketing expenses, stock-based compensation and acquisition-related items.
In the first quarter of 2011, Groupon reported a $117 million operating loss, but ACSOI was almost $82 million. That's partly because some $180 million of online marketing spending had been stripped out.
The company in its latest filing used a measure that includes marketing expenses, but not stock-based compensation or acquisition costs. On this basis, Groupon lost $62.3 million in the second quarter, an improvement from the first quarter when it lost $98.3 million.
Cumulative customers, or Groupon subscribers who have purchased deals, topped 23 million, up from 15.8 million as of March 31. The company sold 32.5 million deals as of June 30, up from 28.1 million at the end of the first quarter.
Average revenue per subscriber was $9, down from $10 in the previous quarter and $13 a year earlier. But the company sold an average of four Groupons per customer, up from 3.8 in the first quarter and three a year earlier.
The company generated an average of $27 in revenue from each Groupon it sold. That compares to $23 in the first quarter and $21 a year earlier.
Despite reports that some merchants are unhappy with their Groupon experiences, many still seem to be lining up to offer deals, according to the updated IPO filing.
Groupon featured 78,466 merchants as of June 30, up from 56,781 three months earlier. The merchant backlog, or the number of merchants waiting to run a deal with Groupon, topped 49,000 at the end of the second quarter, up almost 20 percent from March 31.

op 10 tips for starting a business that will succeed

Start your business while you're still employed. How long can most people live without money? Not long. And it may be a long time before your new business actually makes any profits. Being employed while you're starting your business means money in your pocket while you're going through the business start up process.

Don't do it alone. You need a support system while you're starting a business (and afterwards). A family member or friend that you can bounce ideas off and who will listen sympathetically to the latest business start up crisis is invaluable.
Get clients or customers first. Don't wait until you've officially started your business to line these up, because your business can't survive without them. Do the networking. Make the contacts. Sell or even give away your products or services. You can't start marketing too soon.
Write a business plan. The main reason for doing a business plan first is that it can help you avoid sinking your time and money into starting a business that will not succeed.
Do the research. You'll do a lot of research working through a business plan, but that's just the start. You need to become an expert on your industry, products and services, if you're not already. Joining related industry or professional associations before you start your business is a great idea.
Get professional help. On the other hand, just because you run a small business, doesn't mean you have to be an expert on everything. If you're not an accountant or bookkeeper, hire one (or both). If you need to write up a contract, and you're not a lawyer, hire one. You will waste more time and possibly money in the long run trying to do things yourself that you're not qualified to do.
Get the money lined up. Save up if you have to. Approach potential investors and lenders. Figure out your financial fall-back plan. Don't expect to start a business and then walk into a bank and get money. Traditional lenders don't like new ideas and don't like businesses without proven track records.
Be professional from the beginning. Everything about you and the way you do business needs to let people know that you are a professional running a serious business. That means getting all the accoutrements such as professional business cards, a business phone and a business email address, and treating people in a professional, courteous manner.

Good Business Plan

Lots of business owners skip a crucial step to ensure the success of their companies – writing a business plan. This detailed overview of your company and its future is commonly overlooked - often because it's a lot of work. However, it's some of the most valuable work you can do when starting up a business, which is why everyone from banks to venture capital companies require detailed business plans before they will even consider your business. The process of creating the plan and thinking things through has helped many business owners learn what it takes to be successful. What are the top 7 reasons to write your business plan? 1. Make more money 2. Save time 3. Keep you on track and make it easier to be successful 4. Give you a chance to make mistakes on paper 5. Create a foundation for your company's growth 6. Make running a business easy and fun 7. And, keep you from making the same mistakes over and over again So if you've been putting off working on your business plan, please reconsider – it may be more helpful than you realize.

Work Experience For Good Job

Build Work Experience You must also work on developing adequate work experience. This will be a kick start to surviving in the increasing cut-throat competition, when you are really on the look out in the industry searching for your first ever full-time job. Internships, Summer Trainings and Volunteering Opportunities Another good way to develop quality work experience is to look out for internships or summer trainings or even opportunities for volunteering in varied projects and events. If these trainings are paid, good for you, but even if they are not, they add tonnes about you to your resume. If you aspire to be a journalist or a writer, you could opt as a volunteer for your resident campus magazine, newspaper or even your college's or department's journal or newsletter. If you aim to be a social worker, you could be a regular visitor to old age homes, poverty stricken areas and homeless shelters. Similarly, if you aspire to get into stocks as a broker, you could look for summer training or an internship at a firm dealing in stocks and securities. Working for somebody is not the only channel these days to make some money. You might be a champ in a particular subject, say computer dynamics. So you could just gather some students who require assistance with the subject and tutor them. Similarly, if you are fond of children, you could approach professors or other personnel in your college and offer to baby-sit their children.

Strauss-Kahn Of Police Line Up

The maid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, of sexually assaulting her in his luxury hotel room picked the Frenchman out of a lineup.
Strauss-Kahn was picked out of a police line up by the chambermaid last night, according to media reports.
Strauss-Kahn, a likely candidate for 2012 presidential race in France, has been charged with attempted rape, sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment.
The IMF cheif has denied the charges against him.
"Strauss-Kahn will plead not guilty," William W Taylor III, his lawyer, said in a statement.
Strauss-Kahn allegedly sexually assaulted the 32-year-old maid, who happened to be in his USD 3,000 a night suite at the Hotel Sofitel in Times Square on Saturday afternoon, thinking it was empty.
The IMF chief allegedly emerged naked from the bathroom, chased her around the suite to the bedroom and "engaged in a criminal sexual act".
He also allegedly tried to lock her in the bathroom.
Before the incident, it was being widely speculated that Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist politician, had a chance at beating incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy, who is plagued with all time low ratings.
Observers and rivals have said that the alleged charges will ruin Strauss-Kahn''s chances at a political career.