Red Ink and Bad Blood For AT&T

The most obvious takeaways from the release of AT&T's (NYSE: T ) fourth-quarter earnings are that the $4.2 billion penalty it had to pay T-Mobile for failing to complete their merger was extremely painful, and that AT&T chairman, CEO, and president Randall Stephenson has a very dim view of the Federal Communications Commission when it comes to its ability to allocate wireless spectrum in a fair manner.

AT&T did manage to post $2 billion in free cash flow for the period, bringing full year free cash flow to $13.5 billion, enough for the company to increase its dividend for the 28th consecutive year. But the big takeaway here, as CEO Stephenson might put it, is that the three most important things that AT&T must consider for success in 2012 and beyond are … spectrum, spectrum, and spectrum.

Source: Motley Fool

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