Posts tagged changes
AT&T/T-Mobile merger: 7 biggest changes for customers
Mar 27th
By Andrew Couts
Provided by 
AT&T massively reshaped the US mobile industry landscape on March 20th with its planned purchase of T-Mobile USA. The stunning $39 billion acquisition will merge AT&T, the second largest wireless carrier, with T-Mobile, the fourth largest, to create the biggest mobile company in the county. This pushes Verizon back to number two and makes Sprint’s number three seat seem even more distant.
If federal regulators approve the deal — and they most likely will — the corporate union will consolidate 90 percent of the wireless business in America down to only three companies with 43 percent to AT&T alone. This likely means big changes for subscribers of both AT&T and T-Mobile (but especially T-Mobile) and they’re not all good. Here are the seven best, worst and ugliest outcomes from AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile USA.
1. Expanded coverage
Through the purchase of T-Mobile, AT&T gains both additional cell towers and wireless spectrum. This is great news for both AT&T and T-Mobile customers as coverage should increase for all areas. For such benefits to become reality however, AT&T must first enable T-Mobile towers, which transmit a 3G signal at a different frequency than AT&T, to work with current 3G-enabled AT&T phones, and vice versa.
More importantly, AT&T-T-Mobile will sit at the forefront of the 4G movement — the future of wireless. T-Mobile already boasts “the nation’s first 4G network” with its HSPA+ offerings, although it must be said that this is not technically considered 4G to some engineers. AT&T — which also offers HSPA+ but does not advertise it as a 4G connection — has announced plans to launch its 4G LTE network sometime this year. According to AT&T President Ralph De La Vega, the merger will bring LTE access to “95 percent of the U.S. population,” which includes “not just major cities but [also] rural America.”
This is one of AT&T’s best arguments to the US government for why the deal should be approved, as President Obama recently announced the expansion of 4G wireless access nationwide as one of his administration’s top priorities.
2. Higher prices for everyone
Fewer companies means less competition. And despite what AT&T wants you to believe, this always results in higher prices for customers. By swallowing T-Mobile USA, AT&T has killed off a fierce rival — one that has consistently offered better value plans that AT&T couldn’t bend far enough down to hand out. It’s possible that AT&T could hang on to T-Mobile’s budget offerings to keep a hold on the lower-end market, but don’t count on it. T-Mobile is in the no-mans-land area of wireless. One step up from Boost Mobile and Cricket Wireless, but considered a challenger brand when compared to the big three — AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.
Regardless, if the plan is approved, anyone who wants to sign with a major wireless carrier is left with three choices: AT&T-T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel. Unfortunately, Sprint (which came out firmly against the deal) would be roughly one third the size of an AT&T-T-Mobile conglomerate and much less competitive overall. Because of this disparity between carriers, the prices of the US mobile market will be essentially controlled by the top two largest cellular companies: AT&T-T-Mobile and Verizon — not exactly the kind of business environment that results in good deals.
3. T-Mobile users get the iPhone — in a year
Yes, it is a near certainty that current T-Mobile subscribers will eventually have access to Apple’s iPhone without having to switch wireless providers. Seeing as the deal is estimated to take a year to finalize however, access won’t be immediate. As T-Mobile explains in the mandatory set of FAQs released after news of the deal hit the press: “T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We do not offer the iPhone. We offer cutting edge devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and coming soon our new Sidekick 4G.”
4. Customers will have fewer phones choices overall
While T-Mobile customers should expect to have access to a greater number of phones, the overall number of handsets available to US customers will likely shrink. Rather than continue to offer T-Mobile’s entire phone lineup, AT&T will probably pick a smattering of the most desirable devices to add to its arsenal. (Which phones AT&T chooses depends on how it handles its array of 3G/4G technology choices.)
Also, as the fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile could take chances on untested handsets, like the original Android smartphone, the G1. T-Mobile also allows customers to use unlocked phones, and even offers up unlock codes. AT&T’s careful, lumbering ways will probably prevent all of this, which adds up to less choice for mobile users, not more.
5. Billing cycle changes and higher fees for T-Mobile users
Right now AT&T charges customers for the upcoming month, whereas T-Mobile charges for the month that just passed. Since the AT&T method gets the money in the bank sooner, expect that option to prevail. Also, T-Mobile customers pay less in fees than AT&T customers. Those fees, we believe, will go up.
6. No more “unlimited” data plans
T-Mobile still offers unlimited data plans, while AT&T does not. Or, rather, T-Mobile’s “unlimited” plan give users the ability to use up to 5GB-per-month, for $30. Data usage past the 5GB threshold is throttled. AT&T’s data plans cap out at 2GB, with extra charges for additional data usage. Expect AT&T to offer its 34 million new subscribers the latter.
7. T-Mobile customers get rollover minutes
Despite its reputation as the “worst carrier” in the US, AT&T does have at least one attractive feature: rollover minutes. T-Mobile users, whose minutes currently expire at the end of the billing cycle, can now look forward to the endless build-up of minutes that AT&T subscribers currently enjoy.
Obviously, these will likely not be the only changes. And the exact details should begin to become more clear as the deal reaches its close. In addition to the effects felt by customers directly, this merger stands to significantly alter the US mobile phone industry for years to come. For now, however, the fate of America’s wireless industry rests on the federal government, which must decide whether or not all this is a good idea.
From www.kmph.com
Telecoms boss urges changes in cost to firms of mobile calls
Mar 2nd
Telecoms boss urges changes in cost to firms of mobile calls
12:50pm Wednesday 2nd March 2011
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A West Yorkshire telecoms entrepreneur has urged businesses to get behind a campaign to cut the cost of making calls from mobile phones to landline numbers.
Mike Bower said the cost of ringing mobile numbers from fixed lines was ten times that of ringing other landlines and was costing firms billions of pounds a year.
Mr Bower, chairman of West Yorkshire-based telecoms group Commsprovider, supports calls for the industry regulator Ofcom to cut crippling call charges from landlines to mobile phones and has urged others to back the campaign.
Mr Bower, who owned and ran a telecoms business in Keighley for many years, said hidden mobile phone charges – known as Mobile Termination Rates – are costing UK businesses billions of pounds a year.
He is backing calls for firms and organisations to sign an online petition at the campaign website terminatetherate.org It calls on Ofcom to enforce a reduction in the cost of calling mobiles from land-lines.
In the face of mounting pressure, the industry regulator is due to make a decision at the end of February.
To date, the petition has been signed by nearly 162,000 people and more than 40 local councils.
Mr Bower said: “Calling a mobile costs ten times more per minute than calling a fixed line number.
“That’s because when you call someone’s mobile from your land-line, their network will charge your operator a fee for carrying the call – currently around 80 per cent of the total cost.
“Present day trends more often than not involve a call to a mobile phone, rather than a fixed line location.
“This means that staff in organisations large and small have unlimited access to a firm’s money simply by having a phone on their desk.
“Someone could sit on the phone for an hour and run up a £7 to £10 charge calling a mobile, whereas calling a land-line for the same time would only be around 90p.
“Multiply this across your organisation and the picture is clear. I would strongly advise businesses to take a look at their office phone bill and the likelihood is that more than 50 per cent will be calls to mobiles.”
Mr Bower is concerned that while Ofcom has indicated it intends to act to redress the balance, it wants to bring in the changes gradually over the next four years.
He said: “This means that rates for calling mobiles from land-lines are unlikely to fall significantly until 2014.”
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From www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk
PGA Tour changes its (ring) tone
Feb 16th
The PGA Tour made a quiet but significant announcement Tuesday that reverses a policy and allows spectators at tour events to “carry mobile devices and use them in select areas on the golf course,” according to pgatour.com.
While PGA events used to be among the last cell phone chatter-free zones, this move was perhaps inevitable as people’s lives become even more dependent upon something that can fit in their pockets.
Calls will be allowed at designated areas on the course — such as around a concession stand away from play. The Honda Classic, with practice rounds slated to start Feb. 28, will be the first official go-round for the new policy.
As someone who has covered a couple of golf’s majors, it is known that keeping such devices out of view of officials used to be a good idea even as a member of the media. During the PGA at Hazeltine in 2009, the art of subtly taking out a mobile device — usually to update Twitter or take pictures of John Daly’s absurd pants — became perfected over several days.
The four majors, however, are not covered by this new policy. Other caveats: the policy will be implemented “on a tournament-by-tournament basis,” according the tour’s site; there is still no photography allowed during official rounds and no video allowed at all; and phones must remain in “silent” mode.
On that last point: Anyone who has ever attended a meeting … or a movie … or any other event where rules and/or social norms would dictate phones are placed in silent mode knows that there are bound to be a few folks who forget.
Your downloaded classic rock ringtone might be OK at the bar; it will not be funny to Tiger Woods in the middle of his backswing. (A ringtone that played various clips from Woods’ infamous post-affairs press conference, however, might get you some high-fives as you are getting escorted off the course).
“We understand that mobile devices are an important part of everyday life.” said Andy Pazder, PGA Tour chief of operations. “We anticipate our fans will be respectful of the policy and as a result the integrity of our competitions will not be compromised.”
Overall, Pazder is probably right. But we also imagine plenty of fans will be rushing to those concession areas — not for the great bargains, but for the breaking news on what’s for dinner that night.
MICHAEL RAND
From www.startribune.com
‘Mobile phone banking needs to ring the changes’
Feb 12th
MOBILE phone banking in the UK is lagging behind the services offered in the rest of the world and, as a result, consumers do not value it, according to a report.
Market analyst Datamonitor said that, while people in countries in Africa, Asia, India and Russia had access to advanced mobile banking services, most UK consumers were offered only basic text-based functions, such as being able to check their balances.
As a result, it said people in the UK did not see the importance of the technology, with just 16% of people valuing it, compared with 60% in Brazil.
The group said one of the reasons mobile banking was more sophisticated in many developing countries was that they lacked the infrastructure for consumers to be able to access their accounts by the internet or, in some cases, for them to travel to branches.
The situation meant that using a mobile phone was often the easiest way for people to communicate with their bank, creating high levels of demand.
But Datamonitor predicted that the use of mobile banking in the UK would overtake the popularity of internet banking once the technology became more sophisticated, with the rate of adoption increasing far more quickly than it did for online services.
It said one of the key reasons it was predicting a strong growth in demand was that mobile banking would be far more convenient than online banking, once both methods offered similar levels of services.
Mobile banking services that are offered in other countries include applications that enable people to transfer money to third parties using just their mobile phone number, without needing to know their bank account details.
Other tools include financial planning and bill reminders, and money management services, showing people how much money they have spent on certain goods and services and enabling them to receive alerts when they approach these limits.
Customers can also download mobile applications that help them find the nearest ATM when they are out and about.
Daoud Fakhri, an analyst at Datamonitor, said: “Although UK banks will start to catch up with other markets in the coming years, they will need to ensure they’re able to get the basics right and provide seamless day-to-day services before consumers can be convinced it is an important feature.”
From www.walesonline.co.uk
News media: Big changes
Sep 16th
Those of us in the news business tend to keep our ears tuned to reports about where the news business is headed.
But you don’t have to be in the news business to be intrigued by a new Pew Research Center for People and the Press study on public news consumption.
The study brings into focus how digital platforms such as mobile phones, iPads and social networks are interacting with traditional print, television and radio venues to affect the way people get their news and information.
More time
The study says people spend 57 minutes a day getting news from the traditional sources and 13 more minutes a day from the newer sources.
That’s one of the highest time investments by the public in news since the mid-1990s.
More than a third of Americans, or 36 percent, say they get news from both digital and traditional sources, just below the 39 percent that relied only on traditional sources.
Only 9 percent of Americans relied just on mobile technology and the internet without the traditional sources.
But the numbers are shifting, and those numbers aren’t so favorable for traditional newspapers.
Only about one in four Americans typically read a newspaper, down from 30 percent two years ago and 38 percent in 2006.
Changes among young
And here’s the startling stat: Just 8 percent of adults younger than 30 had read a newspaper the day they were surveyed.
Young people are reading the newspaper on the Web, however.
Online newspaper readership is growing, up to 17 percent from 9 percent in 2006, but not enough to offset the overall decline in newspaper readership.
The study also delves into how skeptical Republicans and Democrats are about most major news sources. (Republicans are more skeptical, the survey says).
These numbers are constantly evolving. News readership/viewership has a lot of moving pieces.
A lot of people in the news industry are trying to figure out what it all means to the business models of news organizations hit hard by the recession and the changing ways people get and follow news.
It appears that no one has figured it out.
There’s more at stake than just whether The Times-Union and other news organizations will make or lose money.
In the bigger picture, the issue is this:
When the watchdogs disappear, what happens to democracy?
Qatar OKs Virgin launch, wants changes: Telcos
Jul 24th
DUBAI: Vodafone Qatar and Qatar Telecom on Saturday both welcomed a ruling by regulators in a dispute over Virgin Mobile’s entry to the local market, but there were signs the battle may have further to run. Regulator ictQATAR said earlier it had informed the parties in the dispute — centred around Qtel’s partnership with Virgin — about its decision, without giving details. Both Vodafone Qatar and Qtel welcomed the decision but stressed different aspects of the ruling. Vodafone said that regulators have asked for changes in Virgin Mobile’s launch by Qatar Telecom (Qtel) into the Gulf state.
Qtel said the regulator had ruled that Virgin would not be a third operator. Vodafone Qatar said in its statement that it may still bring a lawsuit in the dispute. “In this decision, ictQATAR determined that Vodafone Qatar was correct in its complaint that Qtel had illegally violated the Qatar telecoms law…,” a Vodafone Qatar statement said. “Our lawyers are reviewing the decision and will shortly advise Vodafone Qatar’s board on our options for legal action that are in the interest of our shareholders and for damages resulting from Qtel’s behaviour which has been found to be illegal by ictQATAR,” Vodafone Qatar chairman Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud al-Thani added.
Qtel quoted the regulator as saying in the ruling that “ictQATAR has determined that Virgin Mobile is a branded service of Qtel and not an unlicensed third mobile telecommunications provider”. “Qtel today welcomed the ruling and confirmed that the (Virgin) service will continue to be offered…,” the statement said. “Qtel has always maintained that the service was the result of a brand partnership with Virgin Group, and that it did not represent a third operator.”
VIRGIN OFFER
In May, Virgin Group signed a partnership with Qtel to launch Virgin Mobile Qatar in a brand licensing agreement to offer a prepaid mobile phone service. Vodafone Qatar had said it saw Virgin Mobile’s entry as a violation of telecoms law in Qatar and the conditions to its licence, which cost shareholders 7.7 billion riyals ($2.12 billion). It had said Virgin represented a third service provider.
“Vodafone Qatar has noted that ictQATAR has requested Qtel change significantly how the Virgin Mobile brand in Qatar is represented compared to what was launched on 13 May 2010. Vodafone Qatar is carefully reviewing ictQATAR’s decision to determine if they (will) take further legal action with courts…,” the Vodafone statement said. Vodafone won the bid for Qatar’s second mobile telephone licence in 2007 to break the monopoly of Qtel in the small Gulf Arab state, which is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas exporter. In May, Vodafone Qatar said it would take legal action against the regulator if it allowed Virgin Mobile’s entry.
Flipboard Changes Face of Social Media
Jul 22nd
July 22, 2010 – Today’s most interesting stories in technology, media and entertainment:
Twitter & Facebook are currently a buzz over a new iPad app called Flipboard. Flipboard is a free app that turns your digital life into a magazine by combing through links your friends post on Facebook and Twitter. Are individualized, social-network based digital magazines the future of mobile browsing? Just might be.
Skype for iPhone is now even better. The popular iPhone app is now capable of running in the background on the new iOS, a major victory for users looking to make Skype calls without having to always have the application open. In other Skype-iPhone news, Skype has decided to drop their plan to make users pay for Skype-to-Skype calls over the 3G network. Better living through smart phone technology.
Reports are coming out that T-Mobile may be the second mobile provider in the US to carry the iPhone. Cult of Mac is reporting that there is an “80% chance” the iPhone could land on T-Mobile’s wireless network before the holiday season. If T-Mobile starts carrying the iPhone, you can bet every other wireless provider in the country will have it shortly there after. That means you Verizon.
Verizon is stepping up its data plan game. The mobile provider is set to offer a new pre-paid 5GB/month option for $80, a major increase over the 100MB to 1GB they currently offer. Verizon’s new offering will give users, especially those constantly on the go, more accessibility, as the 1GB data plan is minuscule, especially for those who like to watch Netflix in the airport.
A new wireless broadband network is about to shake things up. LightSquared, a wireless provider funded by Harbinger Capital Partners, will launch around this time next year, with plans to cover 92% of America by 2015. Initially the company will not sell mobile phone plans, instead it will rely on data plans, which will give mobile broadband consumers more options when selecting an LTE carrier.
Today’s Video — Shelly chats with Jack Myers about Google TV.
Car bomb in Mexican drug war changes ground rules
Jul 17th
Car bomb in Mexican drug war changes ground rules ALICIA A. CALDWELL – 7/17/2010 7:13:02 PM
Mexican drug traffickers’ first car-bomb attack against police has revealed a new level of cold-blooded planning that is forcing this border city and security forces to change the way they confront violence.
Police said Friday that La Linea drug gang _ the same group blamed for the March killing of a U.S. consulate employee and her husband _ lured federal officers and paramedics to the site of a car bomb by dressing a bound, wounded man in a police uniform and calling in a false report of an officer shot.
The gang then exploded a car holding as much as 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of explosives, killing the decoy, a rescue worker and a federal officer. A regional military commander said a cell phone might have been used to detonate the bomb.
The gang promised to strike again, with graffiti painted on the wall of a Ciudad Juarez shopping center. “What happened … is going to keep happening against all the authorities,” the message read. “We have more car bombs.”
Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said city authorities “will have to change the way we operate. We’ve started changing all our protocols, to include bomb situations.”
He fears such attacks could hit the morale of his already overworked police force.
“Having attacks, direct attacks, on the police department creates the possibility of police just retiring or quitting,” he said.
Reyes Ferriz said at least 14 police officers or other law enforcement officials have been killed in the last few weeks in and around the city. The city has a police department of about 2,800 officers.
They are backed up by as many as 5,000 federal police, one of whom died in the Thursday car-bombing. The security equation has shifted for them too.
Civilian Ciudad Juarez residents also were emotionally shaken by the bombing, which scattered debris over a 300-yard (300-meter) radius and blew out the windows of a nearby home.
Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with more than 4,000 people killed since the beginning of 2009.
Police said Thursday’s attack was in retaliation for the arrest of a top leader of the La Linea drug gang, Jesus Acosta Guerrero, earlier in the day.
Police said Acosta Guerrero, 35, was the “operations leader” of La Linea, which works for the Juarez drug cartel. He was responsible for at least 25 killings, mainly of rival gang members, and also ordered attacks on police.
Drug cartel battles have resulted in the deaths of about 25,000 people since late 2006 in Mexico.
While cartels have often used grenades and high-powered rifles against police and soldiers, Thursday’s attack was the first time a cartel has successfully used a sizable bomb to attack security forces.
Brig. Gen. Eduardo Zarate, the commander of the regional military zone, said as much as 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of explosives might have been used in the attack, adding that burned batteries connecting to a mobile phone were found at the scene.
Meanwhile in the northeastern border city of Nuevo Laredo, 12 people were killed and 21 wounded in running gun battles between soldiers and cartel gunmen on Friday.
Gunmen blocked some streets with hijacked vehicles at the height of the battles, which occurred at least three points in the city, prompting the U.S. Consulate to warn American citizens in the city to remain indoors.
Seven of the 21 wounded were listed in serious condition, the federal interior department said in a news statement, and three of the seriously wounded were children apparently caught in the crossfire.
The dead included nine suspected gunmen, two civilians and one soldier. Nuevo Laredo has been the scene of viscous turf battles between the Gulf cartel and their former allies, the Zetas drug gang.
Car bomb in Mexican drug war changes ground rules
Jul 17th
Print E-mail
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
The Associated Press
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Mexican drug traffickers’ first car-bomb attack against police has revealed a new level of cold-blooded planning that is forcing this border city and security forces to change the way they confront violence.
Federal police agents secure the area after members of a drug gang rammed a car into two police patrol vehicles in retaliation for the arrest of a top gang leader in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, July 15, 2010. Two officers and an emergency medical technician were killed and a cameraman at the scene was injured. (AP Photo)
Federal police agents secure the area after members of a drug gang rammed a car into two police patrol vehicles in retaliation for the arrest of a top gang leader in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, July 15, 2010. Two officers and an emergency medical technician were killed and a cameraman at the scene was injured.(AP Photo)
The remains of a vehicle are cordoned off in a street in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Friday July 16, 2010. Mexican investigators ran forensic tests to determine whether drug gangs used a car bomb in an attack on police patrol trucks that killed two officers and wounded nine people on Thursday. A car bomb would mark an unprecedented escalation of Mexico’s drug war and confirm long-standing fears that the cartels are turning to explosives in their fight against security forces. (AP Photo)
The remains of a vehicle are cordoned off in a street in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Friday July 16, 2010. Mexican investigators ran forensic tests to determine whether drug gangs used a car bomb in an attack on police patrol trucks that killed two officers a day earlier. A car bomb would mark an unprecedented escalation of Mexico’s drug war and confirm long-standing fears that the cartels are turning to explosives in their fight against security forces. (AP Photo)
Police said Friday that La Linea drug gang — the same group blamed for the March killing of a U.S. consulate employee and her husband — lured federal officers and paramedics to the site of a car bomb by dressing a bound, wounded man in a police uniform and calling in a false report of an officer shot.
The gang then exploded a car holding as much as 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of explosives, killing the decoy, a rescue worker and a federal officer. A regional military commander said a cell phone might have been used to detonate the bomb.
The gang promised to strike again, with graffiti painted on the wall of a Ciudad Juarez shopping center. “What happened … is going to keep happening against all the authorities,” the message read. “We have more car bombs.”
Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said city authorities “will have to change the way we operate. We’ve started changing all our protocols, to include bomb situations.”
He fears such attacks could hit the morale of his already overworked police force.
“Having attacks, direct attacks, on the police department creates the possibility of police just retiring or quitting,” he said.
Reyes Ferriz said at least 14 police officers or other law enforcement officials have been killed in the last few weeks in and around the city. The city has a police department of about 2,800 officers.
They are backed up by as many as 5,000 federal police, one of whom died in the Thursday car-bombing. The security equation has shifted for them too.
Civilian Ciudad Juarez residents also were emotionally shaken by the bombing, which scattered debris over a 300-yard (300-meter) radius and blew out the windows of a nearby home.
Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with more than 4,000 people killed since the beginning of 2009.
Police said Thursday’s attack was in retaliation for the arrest of a top leader of the La Linea drug gang, Jesus Acosta Guerrero, earlier in the day.
Police said Acosta Guerrero, 35, was the “operations leader” of La Linea, which works for the Juarez drug cartel. He was responsible for at least 25 killings, mainly of rival gang members, and also ordered attacks on police.
Drug cartel battles have resulted in the deaths of about 25,000 people since late 2006 in Mexico.
While cartels have often used grenades and high-powered rifles against police and soldiers, Thursday’s attack was the first time a cartel has successfully used a sizable bomb to attack security forces.
Brig. Gen. Eduardo Zarate, the commander of the regional military zone, said as much as 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of explosives might have been used in the attack, adding that burned batteries connecting to a mobile phone were found at the scene.
Meanwhile in the northeastern border city of Nuevo Laredo, 12 people were killed and 21 wounded in running gun battles between soldiers and cartel gunmen on Friday.
Gunmen blocked some streets with hijacked vehicles at the height of the battles, which occurred at least three points in the city, prompting the U.S. Consulate to warn American citizens in the city to remain indoors.
Seven of the 21 wounded were listed in serious condition, the federal interior department said in a news statement, and three of the seriously wounded were children apparently caught in the crossfire.
The dead included nine suspected gunmen, two civilians and one soldier. Nuevo Laredo has been the scene of viscous turf battles between the Gulf cartel and their former allies, the Zetas drug gang.
___
E. Eduardo Castillo reported from Mexico City.
___
July 17, 2010 11:07 AM EDT
Copyright 2010, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
