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Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

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Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#51

Post by TheAmazingRace »

tw04 wrote: post #50
TheAmazingRace wrote: post #5

I will say, I'm not terribly fond of mergers on principle. However, based on my insight as a former customer and shareholder of the company, Sprint's goose was most definitely cooked to a crisp. If this merger had not happened, I could have seen Sprint file for bankruptcy, with Verizon and AT&T picking the carcass clean. I think folks forget how dire Sprint's straits were at the time, and this specific merger truly w…

What makes you think someone else wouldn’t have picked up the pieces? Whether that be dish/comcast/google, or just some private equity. Being acquired by a competitor wasn’t their only exit option, and pretty much anything else would’ve resulted in more competition.

To be honest, I truly do not know all possible ends, as I'm not an oracle. Based on the information I had at the time, I felt that this merger was the best option out of all of the ones being explored at the time. I'm happy to have been wrong about this if they went a different direction and it worked out better, but history is history.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#52

Post by codydh »

sgerenser wrote: post #46
candiddevmike wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with MVNOs, at least that I'm noticing as a Google Fi subscriber, is I believe MVNOs are deprioritized. In a congested area, folks who have direct service with Verizon or T-Mobile seem to have better reception and bandwidth than I do.

MVNOs are definitely often deprioritized, as I experienced with Visible wireless where I'd often have no data access despite having 2-3 bars of service. Switched a year or two ago to US Mobile which is apparently one of the few that is not deprioritized on the Verizon network (bizarrely as long as your phone is 5G capable, even when only using 4G). So there's options out there without paying $70/mo for Verizon postpa…

I believe if you get the higher-priced Visible plan (Visible+), you have higher/equivalent to postpaid priority. I switched to this plan a year ago from Verizon, in an area where being deprioritized on any of the carriers means it's useless much of the day, and it's been great.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#53

Post by exabrial »

bklyn11201 wrote: post #21
exabrial wrote: post #4

DOE needs to stop approving mergers and acquisitions over $150 mil or so. Every such merger: Facebook/Instagram, Google/Youtube, etc has been a disaster.

What do you think would happen to the venture-capital-funded tech ecosystem and the resulting tech salaries if this were to happen?

The hope would be a vast increase in employers available rather than consolidation down to FAANG, increasing demand and driving salaries up.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#54

Post by codydh »

candiddevmike wrote: post #36
toast0 wrote: post #11

Post merger I went from a $25/month t-mobile plan to a $15/month t-mobile plan. Not entirely apples to apples, but close. My spouse went from $30/month to $25/month on Verizon for more data. And there's lots of options at https://prepaidcompare.net/

The problem with MVNOs, at least that I'm noticing as a Google Fi subscriber, is I believe MVNOs are deprioritized. In a congested area, folks who have direct service with Verizon or T-Mobile seem to have better reception and bandwidth than I do.

There's a good guide to the prioritization (QCI) of various carriers here: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract/comments/oaophe/data_pri...

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#55

Post by Alupis »

sgerenser wrote: post #49
res0nat0r wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm looking to switch to Visible here soon after being on Google Fi for many years. Just looks like a cheaper rebranded Verizon to me, and has all the features I would need for a cheap price. https://www.visible.com/

I switched away from Visible to US Mobile due to deprioritization. I believe they now offer a non-deprioritized plan for $40/mo though, but U.S. mobile is less expensive for a non-deprio plan.

On Visible, your first 50GB of mobile data are not deprioritized.

Some people use a lot of mobile data - but I'm on my phone all day/night for business and pleasure, watch a lot of video content etc, but usually am within Wifi range of my home or office. I struggle to use more than 6GB of mobile data per month...

Before switching to Visible, I worried a lot about prioritization etc. After switching from Verizon (proper) -> Visible, and I can honestly say I haven't noticed any difference in performance. My bill is significantly lower though, which I do enjoy.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#56

Post by lotsofpulp »

candiddevmike wrote: post #36
toast0 wrote: post #11

Post merger I went from a $25/month t-mobile plan to a $15/month t-mobile plan. Not entirely apples to apples, but close. My spouse went from $30/month to $25/month on Verizon for more data. And there's lots of options at https://prepaidcompare.net/

The problem with MVNOs, at least that I'm noticing as a Google Fi subscriber, is I believe MVNOs are deprioritized. In a congested area, folks who have direct service with Verizon or T-Mobile seem to have better reception and bandwidth than I do.

There’s different levels of priority within the same mobile networks, at all of them. MVNOs are just a price discrimination tool. It’s all the same electromagnetic waves being sold at different price points and priorities.

ATT just increased their higher priced consumer plan by $7 per month.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#57

Post by zitterbewegung »

candiddevmike wrote: post #36
toast0 wrote: post #11

Post merger I went from a $25/month t-mobile plan to a $15/month t-mobile plan. Not entirely apples to apples, but close. My spouse went from $30/month to $25/month on Verizon for more data. And there's lots of options at https://prepaidcompare.net/

The problem with MVNOs, at least that I'm noticing as a Google Fi subscriber, is I believe MVNOs are deprioritized. In a congested area, folks who have direct service with Verizon or T-Mobile seem to have better reception and bandwidth than I do.

I buy service from this company that is a MVNO and is a prioritized cellular company : https://xcapeinc.com/mvnovoice.html

You aren’t going to get service that is cheap but they do offer things like static IPs and peering.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#58

Post by hedora »

TheAmazingRace wrote: post #5

I will say, I'm not terribly fond of mergers on principle. However, based on my insight as a former customer and shareholder of the company, Sprint's goose was most definitely cooked to a crisp. If this merger had not happened, I could have seen Sprint file for bankruptcy, with Verizon and AT&T picking the carcass clean. I think folks forget how dire Sprint's straits were at the time, and this specific merger truly w…

The regulators could have forced the big four carriers (now three) into a common carrier model.

In that setup, all cell providers would effectively be an MVNO, and the three (then, four) physical networks would be operated at arms length from the consumer facing side. Also, the four networks could be structured so that their financial incentives were to improve cell coverage and bandwidth instead of undermining each others' operations.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#59

Post by hedora »

bt3 wrote: post #24
Schnitz wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prepaid sounds great unless you ever want roaming, it’s either straight up not possible or priced in a way that makes it impractical.

Data-only global eSims are super cheap. Having done a lot of international travel lately, this is undoubtedly the best way to go. Cheaper and better coverage too.

Also, things like iMessage, FaceTime and Signal definitely work with those sims. Not sure about "wifi" calling or SMS with your home country's plan though.

Re: Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Killed Wireless Price Competition in U.S.

#60

Post by hedora »

ndiddy wrote: post #47
soylentcola wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't done that in a year and a half, but when I spent a few weeks out of the country it was a simple matter of buying a $30 prepaid SIM from a vending machine at the airport and having more data than I had time to use. Honestly, no contracts or carrier locks has always made it easier to deal with travel compared to friends who occasionally have issues just swapping SIMs.

Unfortunately, the increasing prevalence of eSIMs in new phones makes temporarily switching to a foreign carrier far more inconvenient than "just buy a SIM at a vending machine".

The last time I traveled to Europe, I got an eSim for like $20, and they emailed it to me. I had coverage before the plane taxied.
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