National business briefs for Feb. 23

T-Mobile urges blocking Verizon spectrum deal

T-Mobile USA, which just had its acquisition by AT&T blocked by regulators, is urging the federal government to block another deal in the wireless world: Verizon's planned purchase of spectrum from cable companies for $3.9 billion.

In a filing late Tuesday, T-Mobile USA said the Federal Communications Commission should stop the deal between Verizon Wireless, Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks and Cox Communications because it would place an "excessive concentration" of wireless spectrum in Verizon's hands.

With more wireless spectrum, a phone company can raise download speeds and serve more data-hungry devices such as smartphones and laptops with cellular broadband.

Verizon Wireless, the country's No. 1 cellphone company, already has a relatively large amount of spectrum, while T-Mobile, the No. 4, does not.

MetroPCS Communications Inc., the fifth-largest cellphone company, also urged the FCC to block the deal. It said the parties had not provided enough information to prove that the acquisition was in the public interest.

BP partners may face water-act liability

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that BP PLC and one of its minority partners in the blown-out Macondo well are liable for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act for their roles in the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier also ruled that Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean Ltd. may be liable under the same law as an "operator" of the well. The judge, however, said he couldn't decide before a trial scheduled to start Feb. 27 whether Transocean meets the definition of that term.

The Justice Department argued that BP, minority partner Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Transocean are each liable for per-barrel civil penalties for oil discharged from the well.

Barbier rejected Anadarko's argument that oil discharged from Transocean's rig, not the well.

Barbier also ruled that BP and Anadarko — but not Transocean — are "responsible parties" under the Oil Pollution Act for oil that flowed from beneath the surface of the water.

American Airlines won't furlough 500 attendants

American Airlines says that because of job-sharing and other steps, it won't have to furlough 500 flight attendants this spring.

American said two weeks ago that it planned to cut 500 flight attendants because it is flying less than it did a year ago.

The company and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said Wednesday that the furloughs won't be needed because so many workers signed up for job-sharing and voluntary leave.

The good news is temporary, however. The furloughs were to be on top of 13,000 jobs that American still wants to eliminate under a bankruptcy reorganization plan.

Elsewhere

• Microsoft lodged a formal complaint Wednesday with the European Union's competition regulator against Motorola Mobility and its soon-to-be owner Google, saying Motorola's aggressive enforcement of patent rights against rivals breaks competition rules. The complaint follows a similar step by Apple against Motorola last week. Motorola is in the process of being taken over by Google for $12.5 billion. Microsoft fears that Google will continue Motorola's tight hold on key patents.

• Fuller Brush Co. is filing for bankruptcy protection, decades after its fleet of salesmen popularized door-to-door selling in the U.S. The 106-year-old company, with 180 employees, said it expects to cut costs and discontinue some unprofitable products to emerge a leaner, more profitable company. Private equity firm Buckingham Capital Partners bought the company from CPAC Inc. in 1997. Fuller Brush's assets and debts each amount to between $10 million and $50 million.

• A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved close to $370,000 in bonuses for 20 employees of Solyndra LLC, a solar-panel manufacturer that received a half-billion dollar loan from the federal government before declaring bankruptcy. Solyndra, based in Fremont, Calif., had proposed awarding bonuses of up to $500,000 to as many as 21 employees but scaled back its request after discussions with its official creditors committee. Solyndra, which has failed to find a buyer to operate the company as a going concern, argued that it needs to retain key employees with knowledge of Solyndra's complicated equipment and the expertise required for an orderly wind-down and liquidation of its remaining assets.

• Gannett Co. Inc.'s stock rose more than 4 percent Wednesday after the company outlined a plan to return $1.3 billion to shareholders by 2015. Gannett, the diversified media company and publisher of newspapers, including USA Today, said it plans to more than double its annual dividend to 80 cents per share. The first quarterly dividend of 20 cents will be paid in April. It also will buy back $300 million worth of shares in the next two years. The company's stock rose 63 cents, or 4.2 percent, to close at $15.61. The company's annual dividend is still half the $1.60 per share it paid out in 2008.

• Warren Buffett's annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders will be released Saturday morning. The letter is generally one of the best-read and most-quoted business documents every year because Buffett mixes sage advice with the financial results for his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. Investors will be looking for clues about what companies or stock Berkshire might buy next.

From wire reports