SBC Communications ("AT&T") and T-Mobile merging.

[agamemnus]

All around bads. Will it be approved? I liked this article, even though it does have some grammar errorz.

http://gigaom.com/2011/03/20/in-att-...erybody-loses/

The lull of my lazy, rainy weekend was broken by the news that AT&T plans to acquire T-Mobile USA for a whopping $39 billion in cash and stock. Who wins and who loses in this deal? It’s hard to find winners, apart from AT&T and T-Mobile shareholders. Here is a list of who loses, in my opinion, in this deal:

Consumers. The biggest losers of this deal are going to be the consumers. While AT&T and T-Mobile are going to try to spin it as a good deal to combine wireless spectrum assets, the fact is, T-Mobile USA is now out of the market.

T-Mobile USA has been fairly aggressive in offering cheaper voice and data plans as it has tried to compete with its larger brethren. The competition has kept the prices in the market low enough. This has worked well for U.S. consumers. With the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, the market is now reduced to three national players: AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Net-net, U.S. consumers are going to lose.

Phone Handset Makers. Before the merger was announced, the handset makers such as HTC and Motorola had two major carriers who could buy their GSM-based phones. They just lost any ability to control price and profits on handsets because now there is a single buyer that can dictate what GSM phones come to market. Even with LTE becoming the standard for the 4G world, it would essentially be a market dominated by three buyers (should Sprint go with LTE), which would place handset makers at the mercy of the giants.

Sprint. The nation’s third-largest carrier was in talks to buy T-Mobile according to Bloomberg, but AT&T’s offer has now pushed Sprint to the bottom of the pile in terms of size and potentially spectrum assets if it goes through. If it doesn’t go through, then Sprint now has a price it has to match in order to get its hands on T-Mobile. Plus, Sprint and T-Mobile often stood against AT&T and Verizon on a variety of regulatory issues, so if AT&T succeeds, Sprint will stand alone on special access and other issues.

Network Equipment Suppliers. The carrier consolidation has proved to be a living hell for companies that make infrastructure network equipment. Alcatel-Lucent, along with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens, are suppliers of gears to both AT&T and T-Mobile USA. With a single customer, they will lost ability to control their own fate and are going to see their profits suffer as a result.

Google. I think the biggest loser in this could be Google. In T-Mobile, it has a great partner for its Android OS-based devices. Now the company will be beholden to two massive phone companies — Verizon and AT&T — who are going to try to hijack Android to serve their own ends.

Don’t be surprised if you see AT&T impose its own will on what apps and service are put on its Android smartphones. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the worst phone company in the U.S. (according to Consumer Reports) tries to create its own app store and force everyone to buy apps through it.

It doesn’t matter how you look at it; this is just bad for wireless innovation, which means bad news for consumers. T-Mobile has been pretty experimental and innovative: It has experimented with newer technologies such as UMA, built its own handsets and has generally been a more consumer-centric company. AT&T, on the other hand, has the innovation of a lead pencil and has the mentality more suited to a monopoly: a position it wants to regain.

[Ominous Gamer]

I'll repeat the same response I had in the bad grooves thread...

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

[littlelolligagged]

Meh, T-mobile sucks, and AT&T doesn't. Or, well, sucks less. You get what you pay for, you know. My ex briefly had T-mobile, and she had really crappy coverage. More proof that sometimes the cheapest thing that will do the job isn't necessarily the cheapest thing. They had lousy phone choices, and, even worse, terrible coverage. Maybe they are better in other areas than here.

I'd switch to Verizon if you're that bothered, OG.

[agamemnus]

We have AT&T cell phone service. The reception isn't very good sometimes, and it isn't exactly the middle of nowhere here. I guess the reception should get better with the merging of their networks.... should, but we know that in general, less competition equals more prices and a worse service..

[Dreadnaught]

Yeah, I have some serious concerns about this. I've been a T-Mobile customer for over two years now and I've been really happy. The service is great in almost every place I go (and perfect in my home town) and it was really cheap.

My main concern is that we'll now be facing a duopoly. T-Mobile provided some real price competition. There's a reason after all that iPhones quickly became effete whitefolk devices and the earliest Android adopters were poor and minority consumers.

Meanwhile, my experiences with AT&T via my mom's iPad have been pretty terrible. But long term, I'm really less concerned about quality in obscure areas vs. the impact of having a de-facto wireless duopoly.

Let's make a short list of companies who may lobby to oppose this-


+ Verizon? [Maybe. They really can't get on the side of lobbying that any phone company is too large]
+ Level3? They could be concerned about long-term net neutrality implications
+ Google? They have a strong relationship with Verizon and T-Mobile, but not AT&T. And a duopoly could hurt Android in the long-run.

[agamemnus]

Verizon will win too, since they can jack up their prices after the merger.

[LittleFuzzy]

In my area, I've tried Sprint, Teen Mobile, Verizon, SBC, someone who got bought by SBC, and then back to SBC-AT&T. Sprint, Verizon, and Teen Mobile were all worse than the network AT&T acquired.

[littlelolligagged]

Not much, or people will suddenly turn to the companies that offer no-contract phones. Hell, you can already get a smart-phone plan with them for about $10 more a month than with the major companies (I spent a lot of time reading this when I was looking for the best deal for my daughter's phone - no way in hell I was getting her a phone that I'd have to continue paying for service if she lost it ). Of course, you have to pay full price for the phone, too, instead of the nice discount price. There's sufficient competition that I think worrying about prices being jacked up is pretty pointless.

Or, put another way - we're already paying entirely too much for cellular service, anyway. Why? Because everyone wants it. I'd give up my home phone before I gave up my mobile.

[Ominous Gamer]

First thing to go is going to be unlimited tethering for Tmobile users
And for once, AT&T's bullshit advertising about offering a 4G network won't be so full of bullshit.

I've had Tmobile for years now, 3-4 relationships, I've had phones on my account spread all over the country, I've used them personally everywhere from Tampa to some sinking island part of Maryland. The phone service was always what I expected, and the customer service was always awesome, they really fell in line behind the customer.

I will admit however that, just like all the other customers Tmobile was bleeding, I was planning to move over to a monthly all you can eat plan. They're cheaper, and with far more freedom, but Tmobile had been so awesome for me, I never pulled the trigger. With AT&T swallowing them that won't be a concern now. Likely call them up this week to see when my contract ends, which should be soon, so I can start moving over to Metro's unlimited plans. Never suspected my first Android would be through them

Its amazing all the work that went into breaking up Ma Bell, only to have it return to such a horrible anticonsumer experience so soon.

[Catgrrl]

I'm surprised AT&T is considered worse than Verizon according to Consumer Reports? My experience with anything Verizon has been terrible, from their landlines to wireless, costumer service, etc. I will admit that Verizon does seem to have more coverage at times (my phone wouldn't work at my job, it was a concrete building with a ton of electrical and HVAC tangled up in the ceiling. Only Verizon phones seemed to work in there)

I actually miss my old SunCom, but haven't had any real problems with AT&T in my area.

[agamemnus]

It's more about numbers imo. Two major competitors is just not enough.

[Ominous Gamer]

"AT&T is already a giant in the wireless marketplace, where customers routinely complain about hidden charges and other anti-consumer practices," said Parul P. Desai, policy counsel for Consumers Union. "From a consumer's perspective, it's difficult to come up with any justification or benefits from letting AT&T swallow up one of its few major competitors... We plan to work very closely with regulators and lawmakers to carefully scrutinize this deal and what it would mean to people's pocketbooks."

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/03/...or-39-billion/

But hey, who needs choices?

[RandBlade]

Wondering if Deutsche Telecom is having problems, T-Mobile in the UK has just basically merged with Orange.

[Flixy]

I think we only have three major mobile networks, but competition seems pretty stiff, even between subsidiaries of the same major company.

[Ominous Gamer]

Wondering if Deutsche Telecom is having problems, T-Mobile in the UK has just basically merged with Orange.

Tmobile was very profitable for Deutsche Telekom, but as I mentioned earlier Tmobile has been bleeding customers for a while now. Deutsche Telekom told TMobile last year to shape up or ship out, and thats when Sprint merger talks started to popup.