Microsoft and Nokia also casually considered jointly buying RIM

Amazon casually considered a bid for troubled BlackBerry maker RIM this summer, and apparently it wasn't the only one. Now, the Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources report that Microsoft and Nokia "flirted with the idea" of teaming up to buy RIM, too. The Journal suggests that this wasn't anything more than a simple idea that came up at one of the regular meetings between senior executives from all three companies — perhaps it could have even been a joke — but it's still pretty crazy to imagine Microsoft and Nokia executives pondering how profitable it might be to divide RIM's businesses and intellectual property among themselves

Amazon purportedly looked into RIM purchase, RIM rejected

With RIM's stock now hitting a 52 week low, new information is suggesting that RIM may have cut short buyout talks that were happening earlier this summer. The ones to come knocking, and showing interest? Amazon. As reported by Reuters, Amazon allegedly hired an investment bank to get the negotiations started, but how far along they got during those discussions remains a mystery. The talks were called off by RIM CoCEOS, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, who seem more open to licensing out QNX and BlackBerry services than selling to any one company. One source for Reuters noted:

”Selling the company or an economic joint venture is probably not in the cards right now,”

One shining piece of information to come out of this news is that while others seem to be showing interest in a RIM purchase, the RIM board of directors would rather have the company complete the transition they started by ensuring the release of new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, better use of assets such as BlackBerry Messaging, and restructuring. These were all things were mentioned on the last RIM earnings call, that in retreospect -- seems to match up with the information, but more importantly, shows the board still has faith in the company and that they will see this time of doom and gloom pass.

While both RIM and Amazon have thus far declined to comment on the information, it was also noted that the two companies are continuing talks regarding how they may better help each other. With Amazon being a content provider of digital media such as movies, TV shows and music -- there is ample room there to work together. Such a partnership would not only be great for RIM, but Amazon as well, given the fact RIM currently has a fragmented ecosystem for such things.

AT&T-Mobile deal all but over, joint venture partnership likely

It’s becoming more and more clear that AT&T will not be allowed to buy T-Mobile USA outright. AT&T’s fourth quarter hail-mary effort to save the deal involved selling off some of its assets to appease government opposition, including a potential selloff of customers and spectrum to Leap Wireless. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that these divestiture negotiations cooled off over the weekend, and that AT&T is now preparing itself to pay the $4B breakup fee to Deutsche Telekom.

Though it appears a full takeover of T-Mobile USA is off the table, two likely alternatives are emerging. First, and perhaps the most likely scenario, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom are discussing entering into a joint venture in the United States that would combine AT&T and T-Mobile’s resources together to create a combined network. The result would be something similar to carrier Everything Everywhere in the UK, which is a joint venture between T-Mobile UK and Orange where Everything Everywhere acts as a single company which runs both T-Mobile UK and Orange networks in the UK.

Alternatively, Dish Network has long expressed interest in entering into the mobile market. Just last week, Dish Network expressed interest in purchasing T-Mobile USA if the AT&T purchase falls through. Dish Network has been acquiring spectrum left and right lately, but still doesn’t have enough spectrum to launch a widespread cellular network. Purchasing T-Mobile would provide Dish Network with the opportunity to launch their own carrier, probably under the Dish moniker.

Regardless of which suitor ultimately partners with or fully acquires T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom (DT) continues to indicate that they have no interest in staying in the US market for long. It is widely believed that the $4B breakup fee from AT&T will be used to invest in DT’s European network, not to bolster the operations of  T-Mobile USA.

We’ll likely know more about T-Mobile USA’s fate in coming months. For now, it appears T-Mobile customers can rest assured that they won’t become AT&T customers anytime soon (or Leap Wireless for that matter).

Sprint, NBA strike multi-year partnership

NBA Commissioner David Stern is all smiles these days. Why? Because the most pointless labor dispute in human history has finally drawn to a close, and Chris Paul isn't a Laker. He must also be elated over a new deal the NBA has just signed with Sprint, which replaces T-Mobile as the Official Wireless Service Partner of the NBA -- a phrase that will likely be repeated ad nauseam during every single halftime report this season. Under the marketing partnership, announced on Wednesday, Sprint will launch its own "Sprint NBA Mobile" Android app, giving subscribers access to highlights, stats and the latest news on why Chris Paul isn't a Laker. According to All Things D, an iOS version is still in the works, though it remains unclear whether it will sport the same features as its Android counterpart. Sprint says the app should be available in time for the NBA's December 25th season opener.

Dish could partner with T-Mobile, if AT&T deal fails

It’s looking like the AT&T, T-Mobile deal may fall through but that doesn’t mean T-Mobile will be dead in the water as Dish Network indicated that it may team up with the carrier for its upcoming wireless service.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Dish said that it could use T-Mobile’s help for its planned mobile services. Dish has its own spectrum and throwing wireless service into the mix would allow it to offer packages of services including television, satellite broadband and mobile voice services.

“We’re not interested in making money on selling our spectrum,” Dish CEO Joseph Clayton told Bloomberg. “We want to use it to create a national wireless network, video, voice and data. We’ve got expertise in satellite-TV, and we will in satellite broadband. The voice part, we’ll need some help with.”

So, that’s a bit of good news for T-Mobile I suppose. While the AT&T deal isn’t fully dead, the chances are looking slimmer and slimmer and many believed that T-Mobile would be screwed without it. While T-Mobile may lose a lot of time and good will, if the deal falls through, it will still receive about $4 billion in assets as a break-up fee and it appears like it will have a strong partner in Dish.

This is quickly turning into a soap opera and you can be sure we’ll keep an eye on it.