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AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

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161–170 of 211 posts

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In certain Ethiopic languages, sarcasm and unreal phrases are indicated at the end of a sentence with a sarcasm mark called temherte slaqî or temherte slaq (U+00A1) (¡), a character that looks like the inverted exclamation point. [1] Make the check out to my name. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_punctuation#Temherte_slaq...

"Make the check out to my name." I was being sarcastic.

I wasn't. ¡

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#162
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smartphones are only getting cheaper. My smartphone is an LG Optimus V, which was $150 without a contract (but it's bound to Virgin Mobile, a prepaid carrier). By my estimation the phone is all-around better than a 3G iPhone. Obviously I probably got the phone somewhere near at-cost (considering how hard the RadioShack employees push you against buying it) but smartphones will be dirt cheap soon enough.

I've been having problems with my Optimus V through Virgin Mobile. It crashes in call (total power off); data availability hasn't been stable (I would say about once a week I have significant issues where I won't be able to use email, a browser, etc. for the entire day); maps/GPS is iffy; I think there are some interface design flaws.* I used to have an iPhone 3G. I thought it was great. I switched to VM for the plan…

The problem is how Virgin Mobile implemented data with Android, not the phone itself. People who have the Samsung Android phone have the same issue.

Search #vmdd (Virgin Mobile Data Down) on Twitter and follow the fun.

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#164
post #12

Ugh. This might finally get me to leave T-mobile. I left ATT after a horrible experience and vowed to never go back. I am not happy.

I just moved to Verizon from T-mobile yesterday after frustration with T-mobile's service. And I loathe AT&T. The nice thing about T-mobile is it is/was the only company which charges less if you didn't have a contract.

I have loved T-Mobile for the 5-odd years I've been on them, after terrible experiences with Sprint and AT&T. I'll be moving to Verizon, but I've heard plenty of horror stories about them, too, and I won't be able to take my GSM Nexus One with me, which is a crying shame.

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#165
post #30

It'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…

The most reasonable roaming plan I've found is with Japanese carrier Softbank. Last summer they released a ¥1,500/day (~$20) unlimited data plan. While roaming if you use any data, they charge you $20 but you can use as much of it as you want for a 24 hour period.

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#166
post #113

Are there any chipsets out there that could support both AT&T (1900) and T-mobile 3G (1700) frequencies? Since one of the main reasons for the merger is for spectrum, it seems that AT&T must be planning on utilizing T-mobile's spectrum in the future to improve reach and reliability, so it would make sense for them to provide phones that support both frequencies.

All of the T-Mo 3G phones are 850/1700/1900/2100.

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 :-/

The data roaming on AT&T is actually relatively reasonable, as long as you sign up for their 'Smartphone International Data Package'. You can call to add it to the account before you leave the country, and remove it once you come back, they will even prorate it for partial month.

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affo...

It's 20MB for $25/mo, 50MB for $60/mo, 100MB for $120, and 200MB for $200/mo.

I usually sign up for 200mb plan if I am going somewhere for a week, and don't worry too much about data usage (email, web, yelp app). Turn it few days after I am back, and all roaming charges had chance to post.

Re: AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

#169

I 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.

Who is to say that Sprint won't get acquired by AT&T?
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