imo AT&T's exclusive iPhone deal was one of the reasons for T-Mobile's gradual decline.
So it probably wouldn't be a stretch to say that Apple played a role (albeit unintentional) in this acquisition.
AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
71–80 of 211 posts
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#72I don't think this is a good idea for customers. Even Sprint acquiring T-mobile is a bad idea, but this is much worse. At least with Sprint buying T-mobile you'd have 3 equal sized companies, but in this case, I wouldn't be surprised if Sprint eventually gets bought by Verizon, and then Americans will really be in trouble.
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#73T-Mobile customer service has consistently been one of the best customer service lines I have ever dealt with. Back when I had a Sidekick, I would routinely end up connected to a Danger employee sitting _at_ Danger HQ, helping me through teething issues on the early Sidekicks. For over five years, they have been extremely polite, helpful, and available. From what I've heard, I won't get this kind of service as an AT&…
I also had a Sidekick pretty early on, and was also pleased with the service. However, Sidekick service was a completely different process than for any other phone. I've not been quite as pleased with their service since moving to Android devices, though I haven't felt compelled to leave, even though the network is tiny (but very fast in many high density areas; I sometimes end up using it instead of my 4G from Clear, because 3G from T-Mobile is lower latency...this happened in Austin, for example, even though Clear has strong 4G coverage there), and I often end up roaming when I get off the beaten path. Since I travel full-time, I am often off the beaten path.
Anyway, from a long-time T-Mobile customer perspective, I think AT&T is the worst possible place for T-Mobile to end up, though I guess I'll get a bigger network, eventually. I just hope they don't change the unlimited data plan I currently have. That would suck, and lead to me look for alternatives.
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#74Does anyone know if either the DOJ or the FTC have approved this? ed: FCC approval is probably kind of important too...
Yes, just as in any other mega-merger all the various regulatory agencies will have their take at it. AT&T will likely end up making large concessions to get this pushed through.
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#75Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#76I wonder if this means that the percentage of Android phones that can't sideload direct from the carrier is going to go up. From what I understand, T-mobile doesn't block that, but AT&T does.
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#77It's a natural fit for AT&T to buy T-Mobile. They both 3G GSM (UMTS) technology. T-Mobile is probably better in some key markets than AT&T, most notably New York (City). The one issue with T-Mobile is it uses the fairly nonstandard 1870 MHz frequency. I don't know of any other carrier that does (anywhere). I assume this is because AT&T has the rights to the more common frequencies in the relevant markets? I wonder wh…
> Wireless really is a mess in the US. Europe and Australia have really benefited from choosing one technology (GSM). How are pricing plans in the US when you are roaming beyond your state? I live in Sweden, where I have a decently priced data and call plan. However, as soon as I go outside of Sweden, which is a small country (9M people), I have to pay roaming charges. I don't mind so much the call charges, but they…
Roaming beyond ones state doesn't change anything. So long as you are on your carriers network you are still fine. I moved from New Jersey to Arizona to Colorado and have had no extra fees.
However when I leave the country they want $10 per MB of data, and $1.29 per minute for calls, and $0.99 for text messages. (This is T-Mobile).
I've heard that AT&T is even worse though :-/
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#78Oh crap. There goes my unlimited tethering.
I am certainly going to miss my awesome contract free plan I have right now. 500 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited data (including tethering!) for $60. So far AT&T still doesn't have anything that comes close, their closest would come to around $80-90.
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Imagine if Apple had tried to get their iPhone AppStore arrangement in a single-GSM carrier world? Apple still had to choose between Verizon or AT&T. From what I've heard, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc. were never in the running.
Verizon was not a GSM carrier.
I'm aware. The point is that they were still only negotiating with a single GSM carrier.
Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion
#80It's a natural fit for AT&T to buy T-Mobile. They both 3G GSM (UMTS) technology. T-Mobile is probably better in some key markets than AT&T, most notably New York (City). The one issue with T-Mobile is it uses the fairly nonstandard 1870 MHz frequency. I don't know of any other carrier that does (anywhere). I assume this is because AT&T has the rights to the more common frequencies in the relevant markets? I wonder wh…
> The one issue with T-Mobile is it uses the fairly nonstandard 1870 MHz frequency. I don't know of any other carrier that does (anywhere).
I think you mean GSM/UMTS band II (PCS), as 1870 is in the uplink portion of PCS (1850–1910MHz). That's a pretty standard frequency in North America. All four major US carriers (ATT, T-Mo, Verizon, and Sprint) operate in it (CDMA band class 1 overlaps with UMTS band II), as well as Bell and Telus in Canada, and Telcel in Mexico.
The only somewhat-oddball spectrum T-Mobile has is AWS, which they use for UMTS service. Even then, that's still a standard band according to the ITU.