NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — In a sign that its bid to buy T-Mobile is dying, AT&T teamed with its adversary, the U.S. Department of Justice, to put their antitrust court battle on hold until the middle the middle of next month. In that time, AT&T said it will “evaluate all options” and consider revising its deal.

In plain English, the delay means AT&T is searching for Plan B. It wants to find a way to scoop up T-Mobile’s assets without running afoul of regulators — a move that will probably involve scrapping its takeover bid.

AT&T has been scrambling for weeks to save its proposed $39 billion deal, which would make it by far the most dominant U.S. wireless carrier. The company’s latest strategy ran into an iceberg on Friday, when a federal judge suggested that she might dismiss the antitrust case AT&T needs to win to keep its merger alive.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Well, it’s not like we didn’t see this coming.

Wireless carriers are quietly hiking the prices customers pay for their mobile phone service. Three of the four major networks raised their rates or scrapped discount deals this month — and Verizon Wireless is staying oddly silent about the terms of the data plans it will offer iPhone customers when it begins selling the phone next month.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Watch out AT&T, Sprint and Verizon: A whole host of super-fast wireless services could be coming down the pike.

LightSquared, a new 4G wireless network backed by private-equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners and to be built by Nokia Siemens, is set to roll out starting next year. By 2015, LightSquared intends to have its network covering 92% of the U.S. population, the company announced this week.

WASHINGTON – Ever make a personal call on your company cell phone? Did you record the value of that call as taxable income, as required by law?

Join the club, but don’t worry. President Barack Obama will propose repealing the widely ignored requirement as part of his 2011 budget plan, a Treasury Department official said Saturday.

The administration made a similar proposal in June, and it was well received in Congress. Lawmakers, however, became preoccupied by the health care debate for much of the year and a lot of their work on tax law was delayed.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — State laws that ban drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones seem to have no effect on crash rates, according to a study released Friday.

The Highway Loss Data Institute compared collisions of 100 insured vehicles per year in four different jurisdictions before and after bans on handheld cell phone use took effect. The study was done in New York, Washington, D.C., Connecticut and California.

Verizon cut its unlimited family talk and text plan from $229.99 to $149.99 and its nationwide unlimited voice plan was reduced to $69.99 from $99.99.

An unlimited family voice plan will cost users $119.99, down from $199.99, and nationwide unlimited talk and text plans were lowered to $89.99 from $119.99.

NEW YORK – What would the holidays be without bickering between siblings? AT&T and Verizon are swamping TV with ads attacking facets of each other’s wireless networks. While the ads stick fairly close to the truth, there’s a lot they don’t say.

AT&T Inc. has been running ads with actor Luke Wilson checking off points in AT&T’s favor over Verizon Wireless. It’s the continuation of a spat that started a month ago, when Verizon started airing cheeky commercials that highlighted how its fast, third-generation (“3G”) network has wider coverage than AT&T’s 3G system.

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s top antitrust official and some senior Democratic lawmakers are preparing to rein in a host of major industries, including airline and railroad giants, moving so aggressively that they are finding some resistance from officials within the administration.

The official, Christine A. Varney, the antitrust chief at the Justice Department, has begun examining complaints by the phone companies Verizon and AT&T that their rivals — major cable operators like Cablevision and Cox Communications — improperly prevent them from buying sports shows and other programs that the cable companies produce, industry lawyers said

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) — AT&T Inc said Friday it will buy the bulk of Alltel Wireless assets being divested by Verizon Communications Inc for $2.35 billion, and will sell some Centennial Communications Corp assets to Verizon Wireless for $240 million.

Under terms of the deal, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) will buy licenses, network assets and 1.5 million subscribers in 79 service areas, mostly rural areas in 18 states, the company said in a statement.