“I was not surprised by that decision given what had happened prior to the time that the application was withdrawn,” said the Congressman.

He went on to explain that the merger would have brought an “improvement that we desperately need.” If you remember, one of the goals of the merger was to bring high-speed broadband connections to 97 percent of the U.S. in 6 years, which would have nearly fulfilled President Obama’s broadband plan. Since the deal fell threw, Congressman Boucher told us that, in order for the President’s goal to still be met, the government would have to step in with an investment.

“In this era of concern about deficit spending, finding those investments is going to be very difficult,” he said.

As for AT&T, Congressman Boucher told us that he thinks the company will still try to meet the goals it set with the merger in mind, but that it would take a lot longer than 6 years to fulfill them. Through T-Mobile, AT&T would have saved significantly in its effort to enable 4G, but now, it needs to come up with the monies on its own.

“My guess is AT&T, at this point, is going to focus on strengthening its network in its core areas building out its 4th generation technology on an incremental basis of market-by-market, as it is an opportunity for that investment to realize the highest rate of return,” the Congressman explains. “Instead of it happening within 6 years on a nationwide basis, undoubtedly without the merger having occurred, that may now take a somewhat longer period of time.”

Some reports have indicated that AT&T has been talking with several owners of 700 MHz licenses and is in the process of acquiring them as part of its backup plan in case the T-Mobile deal fell threw. This may very well be true since the company is in need of more spectrum.

The Congressman is also optimistic about T-Mobile saying it is in a “very strong position to be a viable competitor.” However, he did say that it would have challenges with deploying 4G.

“The challenge that T-Mobile faces is acquiring the capital that is necessary to deploy 4th generation technology across its network,” he pointed out.

While AT&T did have to pay T-Mobile $4 billion ($3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum rights), the Congressman said that T-Mobile would still need considerably more financing. What’s more is that T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, had said, prior to the merger, that it wanted to exit the U.S. market and was not going to invest in it further. If this is still the case, T-Mobile could have a tough road ahead.

Since the future of T-Mobile is still in question, there have been some speculations about whether or not AT&T will make another attempt at buying the company. Congressman Boucher told us that, at this point, it seemed that the companies were headed in two different directions.

Sprint has also been mentioned as a potential buyer of T-Mobile, but the Congressman thinks such a merger would face the same scrutiny that the AT&T/T-Mobile did.

“I think it’s gonna be very difficult for any of the major carriers to purchase T-Mobile, given the position of the Department of Justice and the FCC,” he said.

Speaking of major carriers, he said it would be “impossible” for Verizon to make such a purchase. If a carrier were to purchase it, the Congressman thinks it would have to be smaller than T-Mobile.

Another possibility would be to sell T-Mobile in parts, which is not what Congressman Boucher considers to be a good decision.

“This is a world where business dominates,” he said. “I think Deutsche Telekom will make its decision very carefully based upon the relative value of the business offers that are made.”

In terms of the mobile industry as a whole, Congressman Boucher told us that the merger not going through was negative for mobile, consumers, and the economy.

“The long term impact is that we don’t get the deployment of 4th generation technology to 97 percent of the American public within the next half decade,” he said. “I think that’s the major negative impact.”

“Wireless technology was the answer,” he added. “We were going to bring broadband to the broadband have-nots – I’m not sure what the answer is now.”

What do you think the next steps will be not only for AT&T and T-Mobile, but also the mobile industry? Please share your thoughts.

These figures are significant when you consider overall job growth for the country was well under 1%. The report also predicts that IT job expansion in 2012 will overtake 2008 as its all-time-high growth year.

[Source: TechServe Alliance]

Apple Inc. shares have been markedly higher today than they’ve ever been. The first peak occurred this morning around 10AM EST when shares increased to $427.18. The peak was short-lived as the value quickly dipped down but still hovered well above any previously observed levels. Still, this alone would have been a milestone for Apple but the good news from the NYSE pit wasn’t done dishing out the good news yet.

Roughly 45 minutes later, shares of Apple bounced back above the $427 mark and bested the previous record set earlier in the morning by peaking at $427.75. The shares dipped down again but have remained above the $423 watermark throughout the day so far. A screenshot of the rollercoaster thrill road known as Apple Makes Record Amounts Of Money is below.

One has to wonder if ChangeWave’s report from earlier today that revealed people have got the iPhone-lust in their eyes more than ever has driven the boost in Apple’s shares. Maybe it was the fact this is the five-year anniversary of the first iPhone’s debut. Maybe speculators are just excited because it’s CES week and anything related to technology and being cool makes people wanna get rich. Maybe it’s all of these factors or none of these factors (my money’s on the ChangeWave report, really). Whatever the cause, some stock market paladins will have some pretty well-lined coffers at the end of today.

Mobile carrier Sprint is hoping to help some of these people this holiday season through its Assurance Wireless program. The program provides a free cell phone and 250 minutes of free wireless service each month for eligible participants.

Although the qualifications for eligibility vary from state to state, the program is designed to help those involved in government-assisted programs or those with low-incomes.

Jack Pflanz, a spokesperson with Sprint, told WebProNews that the mobile carrier hopes the program will help those who are struggling reduce their costs and also communicate with potential employers in order to find jobs.

“So many people are out of work, and so many people are struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “It’s a way for us to be able to assist folks who are trying to find ways to save money and for folks that are trying to find work.”

Assurance Wireless is part of the Universal Lifeline program, which is supported by the Universal Service Fund. Pflanz explained to us that each carrier is required to contribute but can create their own variation of a program.

At this point, Assurance Wireless is available in 31 states with the most recent addition of Kansas. However, Pflanz said the program hoped to expand further going forward.

For those who do not qualify for Assurance Wireless, Pflanz also told us about another option that could help people out. As he explained, payLo by Virgin Mobile is geared toward people who just need a simple phone for making phone calls and texting. This service offers rates as low as $0.20 per minute.

“What we’re trying to do is provide quality, reliable phone service to those folks who are having a real hard time in this economy and can’t necessarily afford phone service,” said Pflanz.

He went on to say that Sprint expects both programs to grow and that it would continue to provide the very best service to its users.

The report, the organization says, is based on exhaustive research of jobs in the U.S. that require a specific college degree.

“We found a strong demand for degrees in technology, computers, and healthcare,” says Dee Barizo, editor of The Best Degrees.

The list of the top 51 is presented as follows:

20 Degrees With Great Job Opportunities (Ranked by Salary)

1. MBA Degree in Technology Management
2. PhD Degree in Computer Science
3. Bachelor’s Degree in Software Engineering
4. Master’s Degree in Education Administration
5. Master’s Degree in Geoscience
6. Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
7. Bachelor’s Degree in Databases
8. Master’s Degree in Operations Research
9. Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Networks
10. Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing
11. Master’s Degree in Epidemiology
12. Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Technology
13. Associate’s Degree in Respiratory Therapy
14. Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education
15. Associate’s Degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant
16. Associate’s Degree in Physical Therapist Assistant
17. Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice
18. Associate’s Degree in Biomedical Equipment Technology
19. Associate’s Degree in Health Information Technology
20. Associate’s Degree in Veterinary Technology

25 Degrees With Good Job Opportunities (Ranked by Salary)

21. Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Degree
22. Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering
23. Master’s Degree in Physician Assistant Studies
24. Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree
25. Bachelor’s Degree in Radiation Therapy
26. Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy
27. Associate’s Degree in Dental Hygiene
28. Doctor of Chiropractic Degree
29. Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology
30. Doctor of Audiology Degree
31. Bachelor’s Degree in Communications
32. Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture
33. Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science
34. Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting
35. Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Science
36. Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction
37. Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management
38. Bachelor’s Degree in Surveying
39. Master’s Degree in Library Science
40. Master’s Degree in Counseling
41. Associate’s Degree in Mortuary Science
42. Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work
43. Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems
44. Bachelor’s Degree in Health Education
45. Bachelor’s Degree in Athletic Training

6 Degrees with Good or Great Job Opportunities but School Admissions are Competitive (Ranked by Salary)

46. Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Degree
47. Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree
48. Doctor of Pharmacy Degree
49. Doctor of Optometry Degree
50. Master’s Degree in Health Administration
51. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree

The report itself goes on to discuss each of the degrees listed.

But, then, maybe this all makes sense. Since Facebook is so popular, it’s not entirely surprising that they serve one out of every twelve online ads. Even better? At least some proportion of their on-site CPC ads lead to another page on the site—so they’re getting money and traffic.

This isn’t a recent development, of course—we’ve all seen ads to “Become a Fan” of something on Facebook. But as smart as it sounds to make your advertisers pay for generating traffic to your site, the underlying logic is pretty much a stroke of genius:

Facebook is an Internet unto itself.

Facebook has long been accused of being a “walled garden”—with its fan pages, apps and other utilities, FB is almost a subset of the offerings of the Internet. If your brand is prominent enough, you’re on Facebook (or you should be!). Driving paid traffic from a personal page (personal) to a branded page only makes sense on that kind of paradigm.

Of course, that kind of advertising is good for advertisers, too, or they wouldn’t do it. JCPenney went from 22,000 fans to 500,000 fans with these advertisements in the run-up to back-to-school shopping (though Bloomberg didn’t say if JCP saw increased revenue from this).

And something seems to be working for FB, too. Last month, Bloomberg said the most popular social network in the world should post at least $500 million in revenue this year.

What do you think? Is Facebook a subset of the Internet, and is internal paid advertising a natural extension of that mentality? Can Facebook sustain this kind of revenue?

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Facebook has some big things in the works. The company recently acquired FriendFeed along with its small staff. They plan to utilize the engineering talents brought by that group. In addition, Facebook has begun allowing for the sale of physical goods through the social network’s virtual currency, which could make it a very big player in e-commerce.

Facebook has picked up one new hire in particular that could play a big role in the payments area. According to reports, the company has acquired Ivan Kirigin, co-founder and CTO of TipJoy, a social payments company, which last week announced its demise (they also have former Director of Product Manager for Google Checkout, Prashant Fuloria).

Between Kirigin and FriendFeed, that’s under 15 new employees at Facebook. Where will the rest come from, and what will they do? One thing you can pretty much count on is that Facebook is looking to start putting all of the growth it has experienced to work at the financial level.

In the Bloomberg interview, Zuckergerg says he wants employees to know that they are closer to the beginning than to the end, and he emphasizes this point with the very building they work in, which is described as garage-like with unfinished cement floors. Considering that Facebook has yet to really nail the revenue thing (though it has plenty of money invested in it – over $600 million),  "close to the beginning" is probably an accurate depiction for the company, that is at least, if this e-commerce thing works out and doesn’t drive people away, as one WebProNews reader suggested recently. Earlier this year, the company said that revenus should grow by 70%.

Zuckerberg considers the investment money nothing more than a buffer, and it looks like we’ll find out soon enough just how well Facebook can really make money. Either way, things are still looking pretty bright for the company. When you can increase your staff by 50% in this economy, you’ve certainly got plenty of confidence.

"The marginally negative growth in Q2, on the heels of flat growth in Q1, signals that online retail spending has yet to turn the corner after a disappointing end to last year," says comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Unfortunately, it appears that the reality of nearly 10-percent unemployment and rising gas prices, coupled with an increased savings rate, continues to hold down consumers’ discretionary spending and it may still take some time to dig our way out of this recession."

Here are a couple of charts from comScore worth checking out:

As you can see, the fastest growing category for the quarter was Toys & Hobbies, which grew by 21% from the previous year. This was followed by Books & Magazines, and Video Games, Consoles & Accessories.

It’s not entirely surprising that online sales are down from a year ago, considering the changes in the economy that have taken place in that time. Necessities (like groceries) are still mostly bought offline. Typically, I think people tend to shop for things that aren’t truly "needs" when they do their online shopping, and so it makes sense that these sales would fall in tough times.

If anything, it simply highlights the importance of good marketing strategy for eCommerce businesses. Not only are you dealing with a damaged economy, but there is a lot of competition online.

In the first study, only a little over 22% said they would buy back-to-school items online. That’s actually less than the previous year (nearly 25%). The overwhelming majority (nearly 75%) intend to do their shopping at discount stores. That whole economy thing may play a role in that.

Look at these graphs that eMarketer put together:

There have been a lot of findings to come out in recent months indicating different fears from consumers with regards to shopping online. One is of course security. A recent McAfee/Harris study showed that the economy had less to do with online shopping habits than security concerns. Another report from Office of Fair Trading found that almost one in three Internet users are not shopping online in the UK due to lack of trust.

Don’t count out the economy entirely though. Yet another recent study showed that close to half of online shoppers had abandoned their carts multiple times in the previous three weeks due to high shipping costs, security concerns, or lack of convenience. The most common reason was shipping costs.

In case you missed it, that was sarcasm. Apple is simply doing what every other company strives for but doesn’t have the chops to pull off in most instances. For years Apple has been the cool company always lurking on the periphery with the best gadgets and toys. For a variety of reasons they were usually very successful but the ups and downs of sales of their computers made life difficult at times.

Enter the iPhone. Apple’s market changer has done just as advertised. It has been so successful that wannabes like the BlackBerry Storm pale in comparison. If it weren’t for the AT&T drawback there would probably be twice as many iPhones in the world as there are now.

As it is Apple is having trouble keeping up with demand for the product so maybe the whole AT&T thing has its benefits. TechCrunch reports that the performance of the company in Q2 was stellar

The quarterly numbers are in for Apple. And once again they’re very good. It was another non-holiday record quarter in terms of revenues and earnings. But the real number that jumps off the page is the iPhone sales. Let’s just say it: The iPhone looks well on its way to being Apple’s primary business.

Last quarter, Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones. That’s a colossal 626 percent growth over the year ago period, when Apple sold 717,000 iPhones. Now, it’s important to note that the iPhone 3G wasn’t released last year until July, while the new iPhone 3GS dropped in June this year. But still, the difference is huge.

What is more amazing is the new economy that has been created due to the iPhone. Development of iPhone apps is occurring at a dizzying pace and appears o be gaining speed. The money that is available to many through this can make one wonder since there are now over 50,000 apps in the AppStore and there have been approximately 1.5 billion (with a b) downloads. While many of those are free more and more are 99 cents and when you do that math it can be astounding. Latest numbers put the money spent monthly on iPhone apps at around $82 million and that will only continue to grow.

If there is a downside, iPod sales are moving in the other direction but that seems natural considering the functionality of the iPhone. When the iPod touch with a camera is introduced in the coming months there will likely be a rebound there as well. Also, the folks at Apple were being very cryptic about specifics on sales of the $99 iPhone which led to some speculation.

So aside from distractions like Steve Jobs health issues there is nothing in the way of Apple moving full steam ahead and maybe even becoming more of the norm. Wouldn’t that be interesting.

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