(Image Source: Android And Me)

BY JJ BAILEY

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

ATT and T-Mobile. The deal of the century in the telecommunications field has been on shaky ground from the start, and the talk Friday morning points to this call being dropped.

“A bid to create the world's biggest mobile phone carrier may get derailed.” (CNN)

“The proposed merger of wireless carriers at&t and t-mobile could be in trouble.” (HLN)

“AT&T signals problems with T-Mobile” (MSNBC)

“Deal or no deal? At&t signaling that a $39 billion dollar acquisition of T-Mobile may be on the verge of collapse.“ (CNBC)

So who’s sparking the latest round of speculation? Well, AT&T is. The company announced it set aside $4 billion dollars to cover potential breakup fees with Deutsche Telekom if the deal falls through.

On CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, anchors say this-- combined with the trouble from the DOJ and FCC-- has everyone expecting a surrender from AT&T.

“AT&T not throwing in the towel yet, but everyone expecting ultimately that's what will happen. They're going to trial against the DOJ. We'll see if we get there … Very hard to go from 4 to 3, you know, from four providers to three, certainly when it's number two buying number four. It just doesn't happen very often. There may not be another deal to be done in this industry.”

Along with the announcement of some cash being set aside, the two companies also announced they were withdrawing their merger application to the FCC. This comes after the FCC said it would hold a trial-like hearing on the merger.

The New York Times suggests, the pair simply didn’t want to fight a two-front war.

“The application withdrawal appears in part meant to prevent the F.C.C. from making public AT&T and T-Mobile records about the potential effects of the merger, records that could then be used by the Justice Department in the antitrust trial.”

That’s not how Slashgear sees it. They say, if you’re watching this deal, you might want to call a funeral home, because the fat lady has all but sung.

“...the deal is dead in the water ... with the final question not whether the acquisition goes ahead but how much pain each carrier suffers as it fails. Deutsche Telecom is expected to in effect sink T-Mobile USA rather than commit the investments the carrier needs in order to remain competitive in the US market...”

T-mobile has already lost 850,000 customers this year.