AT&T to aquire T-Mobile

[Edd]

I'm skeptical that consumers will benefit from this. Don't like the sound of it.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20045184-94.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

 

[MommaBear]

Can't beat them, buy them?

 

[Glenn]

Maybe it'll help with coverage in certain areas. I'm on AT&T and the only place we don't get good coverage is the base of Mt Snow. But rumor has it, they're currently working on that.

 

[BackLoafRiver]

As a VZ customer, the acquisition is more intriguing than it ought to be. In several states (looks to be a lot of Texas, Michigan) it will change the 4g footprint from spotty to almost total coverage. Sprint released a statement about it. Something about violating anti-trust law or such.

As all of this was unfolding, T-Mo's customer service line was inundated with calls from current subscribers. Their number 1 question....will T-Mobile carry the iphone.

 

[andyzee]

Sprint released a statement about it. Something about violating anti-trust law or such.

.

You mean Sprint/Nextel, right? :lol:

 

[BackLoafRiver]

You mean Sprint/Nextel, right? :lol:

:razz: The same

 

[wa-loaf]

Not related, but this thing looks really cool and good for cell phone users in general:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/21/technology/light_radio/index.htm

 

[Glenn]

Not related, but this thing looks really cool and good for cell phone users in general:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/21/technology/light_radio/index.htm

Now that's pretty cool!

 

[ChileMass]

No doubt this merger will force Verizon and Sprint to combine, so soon there will only be 2 major players to choose from.......not good for consumers......

 

[Geoff]

No doubt this merger will force Verizon and Sprint to combine, so soon there will only be 2 major players to choose from.......not good for consumers......

Verizon has no reason in the world to buy Sprint unless it's at a fire sale to grab the spectrum. AT&T needed spectrum and they needed better coverage in a number of regions where Tmo was pretty good.

If you live in a major metro area and don't travel much, Sprint is a great low cost option. If you are a skier, you'll discover that a Sprint phone makes a pretty good paperweight in ski country but you'll be hard-pressed to make calls on it.

 

[andyzee]

Verizon has no reason in the world to buy Sprint unless it's at a fire sale to grab the spectrum. AT&T needed spectrum and they needed better coverage in a number of regions where Tmo was pretty good.

If you live in a major metro area and don't travel much, Sprint is a great low cost option. If you are a skier, you'll discover that a Sprint phone makes a pretty good paperweight in ski country but you'll be hard-pressed to make calls on it.

Geoff, Sprint doesn't have coverage in Killington? I want to get off Verizon and thinking of switching to Sprint or ATT

 

[mondeo]

No doubt this merger will force Verizon and Sprint to combine, so soon there will only be 2 major players to choose from.......not good for consumers......

Actually, probably makes it less likely. Going from 2 giants and two budget/niche players to 2 and 1 is one thing, doesn't change the dynamics much. I highly doubt, once ATT and T-Mobile are merged, that Sprint and Verizon would be allowed to merge.

Also:
A. Why does everything have to directly benefit consumers? There's a lot markets with a ton of oversupply, which drives down prices but kills the companies providing the service. And then when they want to merge and reduce capacity so there's actually a viable business case, they get lambasted for not caring about the consumer.

B. It may be good in the end. While they may not have the same range of options as the two companies combined, one or two of T-Mobile's plans may survive and give the much wider base of ATT customers more options while T-Mobile customers can actually use their phones outside of major cities. Also, with lower combined cap-ex, tech build out could be faster and more of the country has a critical mass of subscribers, increasing the overall coverage and lowering redundancy.

 

[ChileMass]

Actually, probably makes it less likely. Going from 2 giants and two budget/niche players to 2 and 1 is one thing, doesn't change the dynamics much. I highly doubt, once ATT and T-Mobile are merged, that Sprint and Verizon would be allowed to merge.

Also:
A. Why does everything have to directly benefit consumers? There's a lot markets with a ton of oversupply, which drives down prices but kills the companies providing the service. And then when they want to merge and reduce capacity so there's actually a viable business case, they get lambasted for not caring about the consumer.

B. It may be good in the end. While they may not have the same range of options as the two companies combined, one or two of T-Mobile's plans may survive and give the much wider base of ATT customers more options while T-Mobile customers can actually use their phones outside of major cities. Also, with lower combined cap-ex, tech build out could be faster and more of the country has a critical mass of subscribers, increasing the overall coverage and lowering redundancy.

Agree Sprint and Verizon would probably face a battle if they tried to combine, but it's a question of market share and maintaining stock price. Verizon was #1 and they won't give up that position without a fight. Technology and customer issues go out the window now.

Sprint is now a distant #3 looking for help and the senior guys at Verizon are probably already talking to them about what share buy-out price they'd be willing to consider.

And, just for icing on the cake, fewer carriers in the market will hurt the most profitable part of my business........

 

[BackLoafRiver]

A little follow-up to the "Verizon to buy Sprint" discussion:

http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/22/verizon-wireless-ceo-says-company-has-no-interest-in-buying-sprint/

 

[Edd]

If you live in a major metro area and don't travel much, Sprint is a great low cost option. If you are a skier, you'll discover that a Sprint phone makes a pretty good paperweight in ski country but you'll be hard-pressed to make calls on it.

I've had good luck with Sprint in ski country east and west.

 

[ChileMass]

A little follow-up to the "Verizon to buy Sprint" discussion:

http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/22/verizon-wireless-ceo-says-company-has-no-interest-in-buying-sprint/

Intertesing - thanks for posting. Keep an eye on it, though. That's today's message from Verizon. Next quarter could be totally different.....

 

[BackLoafRiver]

Intertesing - thanks for posting. Keep an eye on it, though. That's today's message from Verizon. Next quarter could be totally different.....

Agreed. This from the company that swore they would not be carrying the IPhone. :-o

 

[Geoff]

Geoff, Sprint doesn't have coverage in Killington? I want to get off Verizon and thinking of switching to Sprint or ATT

My company gave me a Sprint Blackberry. I had it for 2 months before I ditched it for a Verizon Blackberry. I have a pretty good sense for Sprint coverage at Killington.

Sprint has a tower on Pico. If you are line of sight to Pico, you get full services. Otherwise, you roam on to the Verizon 2G network. Around Killington, a lot of the newer towers are 3G-only so you don't get Sprint voice coverage. If you roam onto the Verizon 2G network, you don't get data services.

With Verizon, I can drive from Killington to Boston with coverage the whole way. There are a few dips on I-89 where calls usually drop.

For me, I want to be able to sneak out for a few hours and make some turns during the work day. I need to be in conference calls while I'm driving. I need way better voice & data connectivity than Sprint can give me. My Verizon service is really expensive but I expense most of it. I have all-you-can-eat voice & data. I have the Blackberry email service (a huge ripoff). I have unlimited International data so I'm not paying when I am using the data side of the device in Canada, Europe, and Asia.

 

[Nick]

I very, very rarely lose calls w/ Verizon. Only on very seldom occasions. I can only think of one spot in my whole town where I drop to 2 bars, and I live out in the sticks.