By AT&T has purchased T-Mobile for $39 Billion, immediately making them the largest carrier in the United States. The process could take 12 months to complete, but if and when it does, there could be some pretty crazy implications.
If you take the statements from AT&T and Deutsche Telekom (parent company of T-Mobile) you’ll predictably get bullet points of the positive results stemming from the acquisition:
- LTE footprint that covers 95% of all Americans (294 million people)
- Coverage area expands by 46.5 million people from this deal alone
- Combined base of 130 million customers
That last bullet point is the key: AT&T will immediately leapfrog Verizon as the largest mobile operator in the United States in what will become a two-horse race. Whereas Sprint and T-Mobile previously balanced out the competitive landscape, Sprint will become the odd-man out, the third wheel sitting in the shadow of industry giants.
AT&T customers should enjoy increased coverage and reliability which cannot be ignored, but in my mind this is far outweighed by the potential pitfalls for customers:
- Less competition means less innovation (T-Mobile USA was the first to launch an Android Phone, a testament to the underdog taking risks whereas the industry giants can afford to play “wait-and-see” or become complacent with their current offerings)
- Less competition means fewer choices (fewer devices, less service plan variety, etc…)
The story could get worse. Verizon Wireless isn’t ever happy playing second fiddle and they could very likely make a buyout bid for Sprint, meaning most Americans would only have two choices: AT&T or Verizon. That would compound the problems of less innovation and fewer choices. And don’t be fooled by thinking Verizon acquiring Sprint is a pipe dream – it’s a very real possibility.
Just to throw a pipe dream out there, the consolidation of the wireless industry could provide opportunities for third parties to offer pay-as-you-go solutions that license spectrum from AT&T and Verizon. In fact, in a two carrier America, the government could force liberal licensing policies as a requirement for these deals to go through.
You know the “Google Phone” I’ve been wanting? Not the Nexus One. Not the Nexus S. I’m talking about buying a phone from Google that doesn’t include a 2-year contract. Turn it on and it works. While AT&T and Verizon would be fueling the voice and data connectivity, you’d never need a contract from either of them. Pay-as-you-go through a 3rd party. Balance restored (in my pipe dream).
Will the United States allow AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA? Would they also allow Verizon Wireless to buy Sprint? Where would they draw the line? If the government would allow the former but block the latter, I’d have to imagine Verizon could preemptively make an acquisition offer for Sprint in anticipation that the government would block both deals. That being said, I doubt Sprint would allow for a pubic disclosure of an acquisition if it assumed the deal would be blocked due to anti-competitive reasons – they wouldn’t want to take the blow to consumer confidence.
In my opinion, Deutshce Telecom is the big winner here. They exit a market that hasn’t performed well against the competition yet keep an 8% interest in the new AT&T that, if nothing else, serves as an insurance policy and portfolio diversification. They can go back to the drawing board to pursue their core competencies of European service. Their press release indicates further “innovating” and I know it’s a buzz word, but one you won’t find in discussing the outcome on the AT&T side of things.
If AT&T can import some of T-Mobile’s culture of innovation we may enjoy some unforeseen benefits, but I’m not optimistic. It’s a matter of opinion, but I don’t think AT&T purchasing T-Mobile USA is a good thing for consumers. I think it will stifle innovation, reduce consumer options, and put added pressure on Verizon to continue consolidation that could suffocate competition.
If there is one thing Android has helped prove in the last few years it’s that healthy competition helps accomplish outstanding things. Android leveled the playing field and in 3 short years we’ve seen feature phones all but disappear and smartphones are now the status quo. The carriers each constantly outed new Android devices, pushing each other to raise the bar. If consumers don’t have enough options, carriers will be less motivated to continue progress, and I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the way things were a few years ago.
[Via MobilizeEverything.com, thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
[UPDATE: Read the opinion of 7 iPhone fans!]
Great article.
However “AT&T has purchased T-Mobile for $39 Billion, immediately making them the largest carrier in the United States.”
Little to no money has changed hands, and the acquisition has neither passed, completed, or generally even started. Therefore, that statement would be incorrect.
You essentially addressed all the questions being asked by readers on other blogs, great job.
Sad, T-Mobile gets all of the Android Phones fast (Desire (Nexus One), Desire HD( as the 4G), two Galaxy S devices and even a line of high end phones that run nothing but stock Android (Gphones). I doubt AT&T will keep that up.
@CTown AT&T’s been great with phones lately.
fuck…
“I doubt Sprint would allow for a pubic disclosure”
best typo of the day.
God help us if AT&T pulls T-Mobile down with its spotty service and bad practices like throttling and screwing those who recently purchased the Atrix 4G. Right now, AT&T represents evil to me in the carrier world. If T-Mo becomes a part of AT&T then I will keep my business with Sprint or Verizon.
ATT is crap. I hope Sprint stays a tank like it always has.
I disagree with the end of this article. I believe the innovation will continue with customer retention and acquisition as the motives as long as there are at least 2 carriers. Neither of them will say “oh theres only 2 of us now so no need for more customers and more money spending.”
Well, hopefully, this is all an elaborate ploy by TMO Germany. Maybe they are betting the FCC doesn’t let this deal go through and they get $3B cash flow, more AWS spectrum from ATT that they aren’t using and a more bandwidth from roaming agreements from ATT. Really, if you think about it, if the deal doesn’t go through TMO could actually leapfrog Sprint and gain more customers than ever.
If it does go through, ahhhhh it will be a sad day for sure.
it all goes down hill from here…. :(
Please. AT&T will stifle the ‘great’ phones it receives. It done so in the past and will continue to do so. The best thing to do is to get Google voice and get Google to get into the carrier business. It is our only hope against the corrupted greed of polictical terrorists like AT&T.
Well, I doubt AT&T will keep up the Android phones. They have the iPhone. The iPhone is their bread and butter. The iPhone is the best thing in the world (in AT&Ts eyes). Android is a waste. The first Android phone put out by AT&T was a miserable failure (Moto Backflip). With T-Mo gone, AT&T has one reason less to put out good Android phones.
Assimilate to the iPhone & AT&T, resistance is futile.
Yeah, that just sucks… there goes great customer service and good price plans… FML
[quote]Sprint will become the odd-man out, the third wheel sitting in the shadow of industry giants.[/quote]
As a sprint subscriber let me the first to say Sprint (and their subscribers) are used to being the odd-man out when it comes to anything involved in mobile technology.
We’d be rockin nokia 3650’s still had it not been for Sprint signing exclusivity rights with all the major cell phone makers to become their official dumping grounds for outdated technology.
This just means free hot spot and tethering for tmobile customers will be gone, unknown sources for applications on tmobile is gone, and I no longer have a reason to be a tmobile customer, metro pcs? I don’t want to be on the same network with anything called iAnything
The US telecom industry just gets worse by the day. It’s so anti-competitive it’s almost like cable television.
I’d love to see an article explaining why the European market is so competitive and plans are so cheap compared to ours.
ATT used to be a good carrier then cingular bought them and the service took a dive. so now i’m on T-mobile and cingular (renamed as ATT now) buys them too.
PS the reason AT&T is crazy with iPhones and such is because neither their service nor customer service are in the top 3. Hence they dangle shiny things at the public in the hopes of gaining market share.
It is upsetting to hear this news. I know for sure that if this gets approved that i will not get the value that i am getting now. I will wait and see. But if it does go and i don’t get good service, and good choice of rate plans when i am ready to upgrade, then i will head over to VZW and stomach their pricey service.
Great with phones lately? Capping data is being great with phones? Not allowing the outside installation of apps on Android devices is being great with phones? Sure, the phones themselves may be pretty great, but AT&T’s policies are far from it. AT&T is nothing but bad news for T-Mobile and its customers.
THIS SUCKS!!!! AT&T’s Data plans SUCK! T-mobile has had awesome plans.
Customer service has be pretty good. And NOW I HAVE TO DEAL WITH AT&T, The Company I avoided………I may very well switch to Verizon. Right now the only thing keeping me from switching now is the fact that I prefer GSM Sim Card Phones over the
other CDMA phones. I like being in control over what phone I use. You can’t do that as easily with the CDMA phones.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Why can’t people leave a good thing alone!!!!
My post was in reply to Quentyn for anybody wondering.
I Actually really liked idea of Sprint buying T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon (“The Biggest Providers”) are Ridiculous Expensive!! and Sprint has great coverage in my area but I do think they should switch to LTE 4G!!
Every t-mobile customer and some att customers should switch to sprint in protest. Burn ATT!!!
Unfortunately sprint will probably get acquired by verizon now…… Yuck!
American cell phone companies are evil and used to playing political games to get what they want. This deal will probably go throuhg thanks to some campaign contributions and “incentives” to the right people (aka. elected officials).
This move makes sense, the combined GSM coverage should be great for customers.
WickedToby741 sums this up very well “AT&T is nothing but bad news for T-Mobile and its customers.”
After years of atrocious service, high bills and dependably-dropped calls, I bought out my ATT contract to sign with T-Mobile. This latest development sucks. And our so-called government sucks for allowing it – which they will.
I don’t think anyone remembers the clusterf%^k when cingular bough ATT. “More bars” equaled “more dropped calls” so they gave us an iPhone to play with.
I wonder what they will do now….
T-Mobile customers can say goodbye to their unlimited data plans eventually, if this is approved. I honestly was hoping for the Sprint/T-Mobile merger to happen. Three large carriers is better than two or two and two middlings. At&t is about like apple with the way they restrict things. This is not good for the consumer, that being said, it will probably be allowed. Why? When has anybody ever really cared about what’s good for the consumer?
This does make a lot more sense than Sprint & Tmobile as originally announced
and i dont have an issue with At&t. I see great things happening.
Also, this will put a big dent in the net neutrallity thing.
verizon would never be able to buy out at&t. the government would have to approve it and it’d essentially be creating a monopoly if it did.
As an AT&T costumer I’m pleased.
lol Richard… didn’t you say Sprint was gonna buy T-Mob? lmao #EVOsucks
I kind of hope Verizon does buy out Sprint. I don’t see anything wrong with 2 major carriers in a close competition. As long as they don’t raise prices together, it could easily work out for the consumer.
I really don’t like this idea. I liked T-Mobile. Their customer service was top-of-the-line, they’re affordable, and they do have very good coverage. I know my parents hate AT&T because they had to deal with they company’s many hidden fees in the past. Not sure whether that’s changed by now, but I know this is gonna be a big issue. I really hope the deal just falls through somehow, hopefully without the need for Big Brother to step in.
Bad juju. Not only will this stifle competition, but will screw T-Mobile customers who are assured higher rates for less service. I’m on Sprint, so I don’t really care. Though, I was debating T-Mobile just recently, but now there is no chance. I want zero to do with Verizon or AT&T
Oh and let me add that my dad had fights with AT&T, but not with T-Mobile. If AT&T hasn’t stepped up in customer care, then their lack of customer care is gonna cause plenty of problems.
The best thing that could happen now, is if Sprint is to buy either Metro PCS and/or US Cellular. That can get Sprint up to around 70 Million. Then we would have a three headed monster. Better than just AT&T and Verizon.
The most Android-friendly carrier gets swallowed by the least Android-friendly carrier.
And this will reduce pressure on Verizon to be Android-friendly.
So we’ll all get higher prices, data caps, pre-loaded crap, locked bootloaders, bans on non-market apps, etc.
I’m tired of 4 companies trying to build 4 separate networks. What a waste of resources. Let Verizon buy Sprint up and bring on the dumb pipes damn it.
This better bring the HTC Pyramid to At&t.
Psh, AT&T will shelve the Pyramid faster than that processor can render some sweet 3D graphics. Know why? It’s not the iPhone. It’s a competitor of the iPhone, and that’s bad.
Bye bye Android on AT&T.
@Stockolone: Why is choice such a bad thing?
well if people want to get screwed even more i had tmobile and at&t and they both jack up there rates and had hidden charges i had contract for unlimited texting and 2800 minutes between two phones and the both said i usedover my time every dam month when my phone was at the bottom of a lake
I think one reason At&t did this just so it can be bigger than Verizon. But at&t=crap t mobile=good crap+good=bad no matter how good the good is.
No no and no… T-Mobile has said that it will remain separate and offer the same great selection of devices. We can just expect better coverage and maybe devices with more bands, to support both networks 3g, and maybe their 4g bands as well. They will remain separate, its sorta like they just own the name and they can expand both networks and rake in more profit from the millions already on T-mobile.
A company whose customers hate its service, AT&T, buying a company whose customers love its service, T-Mobile, equals one conglomerate with service that’s mediocre. You have a company that bought into closed-source smartphones (iPhone), and a company that pushed open-source smartphones (Android). Mixing oil and water just doesn’t work. They are bound to go in one direction on their decision making, meaning one of the OS’s will suffer from lack of support.
I’m on T-Mo and don’t like this buyout. Especially since AT&T is known for inhibiting the open source movement (denying sideloading of apps, charging for tethering, etc). But the everyday T-Mobile customer will look forward to a chance at getting an iPhone….
This means I stay with Sprint til DEATH!
@Stockolone: Monopolies are illegal for a reason. Variety is the foundation of America.
wow i have t-mobile, i want iphone but not high prices
this kind of sucks, here i come cricket lol
or maybe virgin mobile???
Shit I’m safe nowhere. Now my best choice is Verizon. Fuck att! T-Mobile had it all. What happened?! They better keep making g-phones!!!!
As a Tmobile customer this is terrible news. Say goodbye to such features as affordable unlimited data, free tether, free wifi hotspot, and wifi calling.
Say hello to overpriced plans. So excited that in the coming years I can look at my $99.00 family plan with unlimited data + text going away for expensive restrictive AT&T.
@JoshL:
“I kind of hope Verizon does buy out Sprint. I don’t see anything wrong with 2 major carriers in a close competition. As long as they don’t raise prices together, it could easily work out for the consumer.”
Yeah, that would never happen. Why would a duopoly want to get as much money out of their customers as possible? They would definitely be more concerned with helping out Mr. Customer.
Yeah! Can’t wait!
Cause AT&T will take away everyone’s unlimited data just like me when I upgrade to my Atrix 4G they say I NEED TO HAVE A SMART PHONE DATA TO KEEP UNLIMITED FUCKING B.S. Now their going to screw T-Mobile
Lets hope alot of t-mobiles culture and practices transfer. Although it will be very unlikely because investors look at whats making money. I love T-Mob but its obvious that current practices were not making them money. they offerd the most flexible and affordable option. U.S. consumers only care about dumb shit how much shit theyre phone can supposedly do. Say goodbye to the Mytouch hopefully not the G series With Google. On a positive side the increased coverage of 4G 95% of the US population should be fuckin sweet! lets hope ATNT doesnt WHORE it out though. Something tells me they did this to take a competetive stake in the industry over verizon specificly. With LTE showing monster speeds and ATNT with definite short term solution to get there. Them buying Tmobile to increase theyre spectrum will be epic. Dont be suprised when they offer phones that can do 100mgbps with average in the 50-70s.
And Plus THEY NEVER SUPPORT ANDROID WHEN IT WAS FIRST LAUNCH.
“The merger still needs US regulatory approval”
Lets hope the regulatory board ends our nightmare
by squashing this acquisition.
Sprint would have been a much better alternative
from a customer perspective.
:-(
us android fanboys may be running out of options. Google needs to get into the carrier business.
@Phones
Damn right. The only carrier other than Sprint I ever considered was T-Mobile. Without choices the customer loses the ability to tell a company to “get bent” if the terms are unappealing because there are no alternatives.
The last thing anyone should wish for or want is to be crushed between a Verizon and AT&T duopoly. Sprint needs to hang strong, or a the very least, choose to get acquired by someone that isn’t AT&T or Verizon.
Omg I’m goin to Verizon or Sprint! I don’t fuckin want no fuckin data capped off at no damn 2GB of data that’s stupid! I use an average of at least 8GB of data a month! So I’m not payin a lot of. Money for dropped calls, capped data, and all that other bull shit. Now all that shit T-Mobile was talkin about wit their MyTouch 4G against Verizon and AT&Ts iPhone and they’re gonna let the mother fucks buy them out. Tuah I pray to God the deal doesn’t go through! Now the phones are going to be shittty and the plans and prices are going to be ridiculous
I swear if Google jumps into the Carrier business I’m definitely leavin T-Mobile/AT&T. They shoudlnt sell phone lower than 4G at all! They should start off wit an ALL 4G network first n carry on from there. They can probably squash all carriers because they’re widly known. I loved T-Mobile I NEVER had a problem but I’m afraid its time to let them go
This sucks soooooo bad. I hope Verizon doesn’t buy Sprint either. Makes me sick thinking of the big 2 raping everybody’s wallet. Overpriced plans, capping data, charging extra for lte. YUCK! They make so much profit yet instead of giving us a better value they keep finding ways to add hidden fees, overage charges, etc.
Sprint should switch to LTE as fast as they can for their own livelihood…
There are some perks for T-mobile if this isn’t allowed to happen.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/20/in-the-race-for-more-spectrum-att-is-acquiring-t-mobile-for-39-billion/
well at least magenta let this slip before I bought a new phone, I went through on of these AT&T buy outs with Cingular… with-in weeks of the finalization of the acquisition I was no longer able to receive signal in my house, and calls dropped so frequently that my phone (for business) was close to useless, so now, for those of us that want a “small” carrier we are left with Sprint, CDMA, severely blocking travel abroad options. OR we get to go with either Verizon, who when asked if they were bringing another tower near us since our apartment was “in coverage” but also in a black hole, told him well your contract is up in 2 month feel free to find a new carrier. or AT&T the Network with the most dropped calls and “4G” network caps that are well below 4G “standards compliant” *sigh* I’m buying a wifi device like the Galaxy media player and going to give upon cell phones in the us all together… it’s like you have 3 choices now… and none of them really “fit the bill” any longer.
Crap, I think they took that part out of the article.
I read something saying that if the buyout was not allowed, At&t would pay a fee to T-Mobile and some other things.
P.S. There also goes T-Mobile’s great customer service. You got to talk to people who’s first language was English. They were nice and helpful every time you called. When you were upset, they always threw you a bone with free something or extra this. Anybody that ever had t-mobile knows how great customer support was by miles better compared to the other carriers. It will be sad to see those guys lose their jobs to at&t. Shame….
not good. it will be much easier for everyone to raise “4G” prices now.
wow the carrier with crappy coverage buys out the other carrier with even crappier coverage.
I guess I will be migrating to Sprint.
I guess the cute T-Mobile girl has to stop snickering at the frumpy AT&T guy now.
This may be bad news, to some extent, for Android, because AT&T, in my opinion, is the least Android friendly carrier in the USA. Though AT&T has come out with better Android devices recently, I still see them as the least friendly carrier for Android devices.
Merging 4 carriers to two would be the greatest thing to happen. Then finally the US could have a foundation to allow it to not be the most behind in the civilized wireless world.
Anyone who travels internationally knows the US lags behind the rest of the world in wireless.
More competition is better but only if the competition is based on the pursuit of profit. That is what leads to innovation and lower prices. Competition that is imposed doesn’t help anyone. Nobody is going to go into the game if they aren’t going to be paid for their efforts.
Everyone wants to be able to do their 2 way videochats with their front facing 2 MP video cameras and stream netflix movies. But the carriers have to be able to handle that kind of bandwidth. Bandwidth does not grow on trees and if the economics isn’t sustainable, the mobile internet will collapse.
Welcome to Bladerunner world where a few corporations run everything or as Ridley Scott put it “corporate communism.” Brilliant future ahead folks. Don’t forget your sunglasses.
att sucks mandingo penis but it has the power to buy t moblie! Get over it people. You can say all the shit you want about att. It just bought it. Bahaha!
Well crap. Been with T-Mobile now for several years and have been well satisfied. Cant stand ATT (burn in Hell) and will jump ship, if the deal goes through, for another carrier. Probably Verizon? Yah. Great phones. Sprint is just as evil as ATT tho so where does that leave one if Verizon swallows them? Its a ‘market’ economy and ‘free’ and all but I have to agree with Rob: this consolidation means fewer choices, fewer risks to be taken and well…statism. Trying to find a silver lining and coming up blank.
These company’s are getting to large for there own good. Seems to me we were down a road similar to this in the 80’s.
This totally sucks. We are going to be even more for BS like tethering. There is no going back…..unless you can divorce your cell phone.
Too bad Google isn’t buying T-Mobile. I could get behind that.
I’m highly upset hearing this.I’ve been a loyal tmobile customer for over 4 years because of such great customer service and awesome phones. I’ve never had a problem with Tmobile but now I’m very worried, I’ve heard bad news about AT&T’s service and plans. I may even change to metro pcs if this actually goes through.
This deal is a bunch of horseshit! ATT is only doing
It for the 130 mil subscribers..I hate ATT I left to go to
T-mobile.now I’m forced to go to ATT..fuck you ATT
I’m going to sprint!
if google bought t-mobile, say goodbye to android phones from verizon, sprint, at&t and everyone else.
Damn should’nt have re-uped with Verizon for 2 years. At&t is now the largest 3G network.
I’m not happy at all. If ATT doesn’t keep some of T-Mobile’s rules I will be going to Sprint. I know that the Even More Plus plan will go away. I really want that sidekick 4g but I had ATT and I wasn’t a fan. I also don’t want a contract again but if I have to go to Sprint and get a contract then I will. Or Virgin Mobile…
1) Great job on this article.
2) How can we influence the denial of this deal? Who do we write to? What petitions can we sign? Lets make a loud noise on this one! This deal HURTS the consumer. It offers nothing in exchange for less options and higher prices.
This was just posted on engadget…..
Update: TmoNews obtained a copy of Deutsche Telekom’s press release regarding the deal — it looks like the German company will be getting $25 billion in cash and $14 billion in stock, giving it an 8 percent stake in AT&T when all is said and done. Read the full document after the break.
That could be good news!
Fuck AT&T, I fucking hate them. This will be fucking bullshit for AT&T to have a GSM Monopoly. What’s worse…is that I fucking hate CDMA phones…oh shit now that’s exactly what I have to choose between….Verizon or Sprint…both piles of horseshit. Stupid fucking pieces of shit AT&T, way to fuck up my life. I hope someone kills this fucking deal. Oh and did I mention I don’t want to be on any fucking contracts anymore…that’s why I like T-Mobile.
Lets hope the deal doesn’t get approval.
” * Combined base of 130 million customers
That last bullet point is the key: AT&T will immediately leapfrog Verizon as the largest mobile operator in the United States in what will become a two-horse race.”
Nope. You don’t get customers from a deal. You have to EARN them. If t-mobile customers can’t afford higher priced plans or just hate AT&T for all kinds of reasons, they will leave for other carriers.
Oh my google!! I’m glad this deal won’t be finished until like 12 months from now. So I can finish my subscription and stuff.
Dugh!! I’m straight up rooting any Android phone I get from AT&T. I know this means way better service now, but as long as I kan keep my G2 paying $70 a month. (No voice since I don’t talk) then I’m kool with it. I still better get a data cap at 5GB and not no krappy 2. I use 3GB every month at least, and that would sux!! -_-
I don’t think the Gov. would allow this though since it would create a huge monopoly for AT&T. I hope not. I luz Tmo. LoL!!
…in a two carrier America, the government could force liberal licensing policies as a requirement for these deals to go through.
Yeah. What have you been smoking?
And another thing, won’t AT&T loose a lot of customers, because I don’t like AT&T at all, which is why I don’t have their network, so if Tmo customer is forced to changed to them, won’t they just quit and go to the next closest thing to Tmo, which is Sprint?
Just a thought. I hope this happens. LoL!! Bump AT&T!! Google needs to make a carrier kalled Google Voice. It has to be that!! Like the app, except even better!!
as a customer care rep for tmobile this news came as a shock to all of us. we had absolutely no idea any of this was going to happen. but if it does and that is if it is going to take at least 12 months for the merger to be completed, we are to stay an independent company, that is the plan. And we will offer our customers the best service, plans, and devices as we always have.
“German-owned T-Mobile — the only major foreign-controlled U.S. telecom network — becomes part of a U.S.-based company and the only major U.S. wireless company with a union workforce”
ugh…not good at all. And this could actually help get this merger through the FTC
@61 I guess nobody will be ganging up on Richard anymore, huh
What if this is a money grab by Duetche to offste T-Mobile losses. Found this on Androidandme.com “However if the merger fails to gain approval then AT&T will pay T-Mobile a $3 billion breakup fee, transfer over some AWS spectrum it doesn’t need for its LTE deployment, and grant them a roaming agreement at a value agreeable to both parties.” http://androidandme.com/2011/03/carriers/att-to-acquire-t-mobile-usa-combined-entity-will-be-branded-att/ This could also be a way for T-Mobile to gain more spectrum as stated and try to be more competitive in its LTE conversion thus making them more competitive in the US(hopefully). As for the money grab part, if Duetche think that the deal won’t get done, they just basically just suckered AT&T in to getting more money and coverage because they get paid regardless.
This is bad.
You need a least three carriers to make it competitive.
Here in Australia, we have three carriers and loads of awesome resellers who keep it competitive.
If this merger occurs I would be willing to bet a lot of money Verizon would not be able to buy out Sprint, the government likes having three major cell phone companies in every area. For example my area has Verizon, Sprint, and Alltel; Verizon was unable to buy the Alltel stores in this market due to regulatory laws. This deal might not even go through.
Anyway, here’s to hoping US Cellular fills the role T-Mobile played.
I was with AT&T then BellSouth then Cingular then AT&T again… and I switched to TMo to get away from all that crap. You have to understand this extends back to the earliest days of cell phone… but ultimately I ditched AT&T because they sucked, and if TMo gets sucked into the AT&T corporate maw, the entire field loses an extremely important and valuable player.
I have carried both a Sprint (BB for work) and T-MO phone (personal) have for 10yrs. I live in Kansas City home of Sprint. For those who think it would have been better if Sprint purchased T-mo, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Sprint Sucks and there are no two ways around it! Friends, you can’t get a good signal one block from the Sprint campus, now how lame is that!?!?! I’m not happy to hear Deutsche Telekom doesn’t have the balls to stick it out. But if Sprint would have purchased T-MO, I would have dropped my service in a New York second!
Hell if things get bad enough, i may just cut my phones off altogether, an go back to landline only
FUCK YOU AT&T go suck a sick dick
AT&T Buys T-Mobile (And Why It’s Bad)
He could have saved us all a lot of time and just said…. “Because it AT&T”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
FUCK THIS ATT SUCKS !
UNLIMTED DATA GONE
WIFI CALLING GONE
4G SPEEDS GONEEEE
WIFI HOT SPOT GONNNNEEEEEE
IM OUTRAGEDDDD
IM IN A CONTRACT WITH T-MOBILE NOT A MOTHER FUCKING T AND T !
mother fahquer… ::farts in AT&T’s general direction::… what does this mean for simple mobile?
#
56.ninjablur wrote on March 20, 2011
Fuck AT&T, I fucking hate them. This will be fucking bullshit for AT&T to have a GSM Monopoly. What’s worse…is that I fucking hate CDMA phones…oh shit now that’s exactly what I have to choose between….Verizon or Sprint…both piles of horseshit. Stupid fucking pieces of shit AT&T, way to fuck up my life. I hope someone kills this fucking deal. Oh and did I mention I don’t want to be on any fucking contracts anymore…that’s why I like T-Mobile.
yes yes and YESS LOLLLL
67 comments and no one had anything to say about sprint allowing “pubic disclosure”? am i really the only one that caught that?
Verizon and AT&T already raise prices in tandem. Sprint and T-mobile were the only things keeping them from raising it even further. If they approve AT&T and T-mobile, there’s no reason for them to block Verizon and Sprint because the same reasoning applies to both cases.
And if that goes through, it pretty much guarantees unlimited data is out the door.
Turns out the worst thing about being a T-mobile customer, was being bought out by At&t. :(
I hope I can use this as grounds to get OUT of my tmobile contract. THIS is NOT what I signed up for… :(
While I agree with the premise that you state Verizon would possibly at least make an offer to Sprint, I do not think Sprint in any circumstance, as of right now, would be willing to accept any offer made as a merger/buyout. The only true benefit Sprint would have in any deal like that is the LTE network and coverage in the areas they don’t have. That to me, and to Sprint, wouldn’t be worth the hassle. If I’m not mistaken, which I could be, Sprint brought in Dan Hesse to keep their boat afloat and he has done just that. I guess you can say that Sprint is the “Ford Motor Company” of the major phone carriers as they didn’t get purchased by any of the other companies and their spinoffs Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are doing fairly well also.
I see AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile as reducing competition, but gaining the coverage they needed in both overall technology as well as 4G because the biggest gripe I hear from AT&T customers is network coverage.
FML. although i was planning on leaving tmobile anyway, and my contract is over the nxt month, just hearing this isn’t great news. my parents are still with tmobile, and hearing this isn’t good news for them basically. at&t doesn’t have good service neither, nor are their bill ever so friendly. so we’ll see how this play out.
thnk God, i’m leaving pretty soon w/o penalty. i just hope wen i make my way to sprint, this shit isn’t pulled by verizon buying them out.
So I was with AT&T originally, and left for Alltel when the AT&T/Cingular merger happened. Why? Getting through to customer service and getting a person who was allowed to do anything became a nightmare. AT&T’s customer service could change my plan, but not my address, because that was over at Cingular already. Cingular couldn’t talk to me at all, because my number was still in AT&T’s “pool”, not theirs.
Then Alltel gets bought out by Verizon. Wife had been having issues with Verizon policies (mostly “upgrade your phone, lose your ringtones you paid for”), and then the local Verizon store had a bout of customer disservice, and we both left for T-Mo. Got G1s and have been happy with the local store, customer service, and plan options ever since.
But we both use too much data for AT&T’s plans to be remotely reasonable, and AT&T’s President’s comments on data shows he “doesn’t get it”. So either we go back to Verizon or over to Sprint, since US Cellular services neither Cleveland nor Minneapolis. (My hometown and hers.)
Lame
Good God! This country is loaded with idiots. Whoever thinks two nationwide carriers is a good idea needs to be put in a care home. And please do not vote!
And some people intend to leave T-Mobile for Verizon? That’s like running to Satan because Beelzebub is after you.
Four national carriers is barely tolerable. I just brought my parents over to T-Mobile away from AT&T, and now we’re being forced back to AT&T?
Plus, I looked at the coverage maps for the two, and if T-Mobile is there, AT&T is also there. The only gain is that AT&T will be able to say they’re number 1 for the few months former T-Mobile customers are stuck on their two year contract.
I wish Google would come in and offer $40 billion for T-Mobile. Or $20 billion for 49%.
I’ll definitely be jumping ship to Sprint in October of 2012.
My first reaction to this news was sprint here I come . Tmobile was better than att in my opinion. In every way . This is horrible news.
Now they can probably finish their LTE Network and deploy the LTE phones. But I hope prices stay the same on my T-Mobile plan or lower. I’ll play ball with AT&T and T-Mobile for a little while and see how all thisnpans out
This
God I pray Google offers more money or somethin happens! I pray to God the deal doesn’t go through! I wish I can send 3 MESSAGES out to AT&T and tell them get tha fuck! Second to Google and tell them hoes PLEAZE buy T-Mobile I would suck theirndicks for it! And to the third to T-Mobile and tell them they down fuckin bad!!!!
quit your whining, this should be seen as a good thing since for one Deutsche Telecom wasnt going to be investing anymore in T-Mo Usa and they had no LTE plans and now there is ,plus the nexus phones will now be on AT&T
Late thought, but I’m sure the Sidekick series will be terminated by AT&T as well. They could care less about that stuff.
This is probably the worst move t–mobile could have made. We Tmobile customers liked tmobile because we believed they would become a better network. The dropped calls, bad connection, and poor Internet made us mad but we stayed because we loved our deals and the customer service. Att are changing plan monsters who want loyal customers. Well att can go to hell because I know their game. They will rid of the unlimited plans and lock us in with the same phones. We missed payment they will shut us down and probably threaten us to collections. Horrible government owned company.
Fuck ATT!!!!
WTF!!!! The worst coverage havin M.F.’ IN THE GAME buys the fastest most efficient phone company known to man. Wow!! All those good plans and healthy signal carrying towers, has jus been bought by the worst cellphone carrier in U.S. history, are u serious? I have three sprints, two android and a blackberry. I also have a G1 by T-Mobile. My G1 reigns supreme. But now that at&t has fucked T-Mobile, I may be selling my mighty G1. What a waste of good Droid phones. That at&t, u rich dumb fucks
I lift t-mobile because it was going to crap. Everytime they uped their tech, the call quality and area coverage got worse. There was many places where i was covered when I got then Tmo in 2004, that I no longer had coverage in 2009. I, nor anyone I know, has had problems with ATT as far as coverage goes. Customer service sucks, but I knew that before i changed.
What happened with Deutsche Telekom buying sprint??
Yay! (insert sarcasm here) its widespread panic on one side and people jumping for joy on the other chanting “yes we can!” It’s like cellular socialism. Soon enough everyone will realize what a huge mistake is being made and hopefully boycott at&T and snuff them out.
Seriously, how many times does it take for one company to screw over consumers before enough is enough?
Apple made ATT what they are now. Then at least Apple got smart and allowed V to use their phones. ATT made a killing off of Apple, and now they (att) are getting greedy and scared of Verizon.
Hopefully this falls through. No one wants at&T.
Great Article, Rob. :)
If att implements their crap network and rip off data and calling plans with tmo, I’m fucking canceling my tmo account……douche telecom really screwed the pooch on this one……
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I don’t understand what so many of you are complaining about. If the pricing changes, t-mobile customers won’t have to pay any more than another what, $5-$10/month more than what you are paying now. In the short-term at&t customers will benefit from T-mobile’s HSPA+ network and in the future, T-mobile customers will benefit from at&t’s LTE network. And everyone will benefit from the larger coverage area resulting in fewer dropped calls and better overall coverage. Complaints that at&t has worse customer service may be legit, but who cares, you only need to deal with them once every two years unless you break your phone.
Unlimited data is a thing of the past and t-mobile was bound to get rid of it eventually anyway. Sprint may be sticking with it for now but they aren’t going to be able to keep that up if more people start tethering for free with jailbroken iphones or rooted androids. Best thing a person could do right now is immediately get a 2 year contract with sprint or t-mobile to lock in their unlimited data for 2 years because I highly doubt that plan option will be available by the time the contract ends.
Obviously there will be less competition, but still…there IS competition. Sprint and Verizon aren’t going to just sit by and let this happen. If At&t buy t-mobile, then there is a large chance verizon buys sprint. The govt isn’t going to allow at&t to buy t-mobile and then turn around and not let verizon buy sprint.
You know why AT&T didn’t want Sprint to buy T-Mobile? Because Sprint leases out towers to other carriers (i.e. CREDO and Virgin mobile). If Sprint bought T-Mobile, they would finally create an open GSM network with leased towers where everyone could swap SIM cards to switch between providers. Making competition totally viable and knocking AT&T off its rocker. But its stopped that, for now. And we wont have an open Euro/Asian/Latin GSM network for another few decades.
I was with AT&T (through various acquisitions)for 9 years. They had the WORST “Customer Service” I have ever had to this day. They also had horrible problems with dropped calls and poor call quality (SF and Monterey Bay Areas). The clincher came when they changed their policy and because I had a business plan, I was not allowed to log-on to my account on their website anymore. HUH? I have been with T-Mo since October 2006 and have not had one problem with them. Great Customer Service, great call quality, great plans, REALLY FAST 4G speed and did I mention great Customer Service? Hi Ho, Hi Ho it’s off to Sprint I go!
Squash the deal !! We need some twitter Kung-Fu to axe this. Not one bit happy. AT&T will not ever let their employees help customers the way T-mobile did. AT&T had horrible Customer service. I was with them for only five months and that was four months too long for me. The second my phone says AT&T I’m taking the sim chip out and peeing on it. I mean it, this sucks. I’ll be going back to US Cellular after I’m tired of whizzing on my newly taken over AT&T sim chip.
Twitter Campaign Unite!
TMobile was the least evil. Good pricing and great customer service. That will now disappear. Dang!
Google should buy tmobile, please.
Goodbye T-Mobile fanboys, lol
Julian shut the fuck up. Unlimited data will only die if faggots like you accept it.
Great, now at&t can f#ck up t-mobile just as bad as they f#cked up at&t.
now we will be charged for every word we say on the phone and wahts next charged for how long we leave our phones on??
so much for privacy…t-mobile has had great family plans i have my faves still the merger better not take that away from me and my family!!!
This is the only way AT&T can have decent android phones. haha
But on amore serious note, I hope another carrier emerges within the next few years to promote competition and slow down this monopolistic deal. Anyways, like several articles [and readers] have stated, the acquisition is yet to be approved and that process is expected to take up to 12 months.
I think the real concern here is what will happen with the girl from the T-Mobile commercials?
Brandon Stfu. you basically copied and pasted a comment from engadget. Be original or gtfo
ps, im going to smash her ;)
Is it a good news? Will services and cellphones’ price drop?
I’ve looked into the reset button.. the science is impossible.
@Keller
If you understood any aspect of corporation let alone a business you would not say unlimited data will die based upon “unbelieving” customers. You are obviously uneducated about the economy and maybe you should learn how companies work before you make comments like you have. You are extremely ignorant if you believe that unlimited data will be around for much longer. It is about to die whether we approve of it or not. I’m against it but there’s not much you can do other than sign an unlimited data contract before they end for good. It’s wrong but it is what happens when money hungry corporations gain to much power and form monopolistic competitions.
To everyone saying they are jumping ship to Verizon… Their plans are even more expensive than AT&T’s.
After T-Mobile, Sprint is the cheapest national carrier.
For 80 bucks per month, you get unlimited text, data, mobile to ANY mobile, early nights and weekend, visual voice mail, and free roaming on Verizon.
On Verizon, you have to pay $120 per month to get their unlimited experience since they do not offer mobile to any mobile, and you have to pay 3 bucks more to get visual voicemail lol.
Hell, even AT&T now has a decent plan now that they added mobile to any mobile that comes out to 85 bucks per month, but their data is still capped at 2gb, so scrap that and enjoy your stay at Sprint.
@70 john the lesser
i actually had comment #5 earlier and it was about that great typo, but the staff here apparently moderates these comments and removed it and i’m sure many others as well. I guess they don’t proof-read each others work before they submit it to the public.
yet they leave a one word comment like “fuck…”
No mention of less affordable wireless options?
Haha, US carriers suck. Our T-Mobile still belongs to Deutsche Telekom. =)
I hope Deutsche Telekom is now investing even more in T-Mobile Europe. Its about time.
actually this is good news for t-mobile uk…
Thinking in the most usual linear, consumerist terms. The prospect of a Verizon, ATT, and Sprint market for contract, and carrier based cell phone structure in general, can only mean their downfall.
Look for the european style of pick your phone, pick your plan in about five years. In my opinion, if you look at this from an empowering, nationalists perspective you will see that corporations continue to go too far. Eventually this will sew the seeds of their demise in every consumer based market. Yes, even energy.
Oh btw unlimited data will eventually be over with regardless of processor speeds or bandwidth capability in five years.
Good luck using 500 gigs of transfer….. Ever
If they are able to buy Tmo then T-mobile should stay exactly the same as they are and At&t can be the owner that just takes the profits and watches from a very far distance!! :)
Really people, why is everyone saying, ” I am gonna leave (carrier) if this deal goes through.” When in reality, you are going to sit there and gloat about being grandfathered into a plan of some sort, and laughing about how bad ass your coverage is now.
This deal will essentially plug almost all of the coverage holes that both carriers have. I for one welcome it, and hope this deal forces Verizon and Sprint to do some amazing things. STOP F’ing CRYING!
This sucks because thousands of people loose their jobs just like my father… All they care about is the money and they don’t think of the people.
I am just worried about losing my plan overtime.
I have a great deal with tmobile… but I wouldn’t want to join Verizon nor sprint, because I love GSM.
And I really hope they keep the G (phone/tablets) coming and the Mytouch series going. All the rest I could care less about. Guess now we will have One GSM SGS2
the merger means less resources being used to provide the service so greater efficiencies in the economy. it doesn’t prevent another carrier from entering the market. so if they charge too much another one will come and undercut them. typical bad economic reasoning
this is a nightmare, i hope this deal tank, i hate at&t and the way they screw customer, i hope every tmobile customer goes to sprint, as i said before Verizon and at&t are both blood suckers, the could care less about us the consumers, all they care about is money, shit this is no good.
If the deal does not go through ATT will loose $3 billion
FYI Sprint wanted to buy t-mobile too
@ Quentyn Kennemer: ” AT&T’s been great with phones lately.”
Q, really? ATT doesn’t have a single Google experience device, and they likely never will. ATT doesn’t allow sideloading of apps, and likely never will. ATT has ridiculous data caps, and overage charges.
How exactly has ATT been ‘great with phones lately’?
Rob is dead on in his analysis. This is horrible for Android fans, and for wireless consumers in general. ATT will ‘assimilate’ T-Mo, and their innovation w/ high-end Google experience devices will be destroyed.
It is interesting to see how AT&T works. They became a top player by buying out Cingular. Now they are going to become top dog by buying out t-mobile. I will say that a lot of t-mobile users I know hate AT&T, so this could be good news for the other carriers. As contracts are up, I see many jumping ship to either Verizon or Sprint. If AT&T kept the t-mobile plans as they are now, they may keep customers, but just as they did with Cingular, they will force everyone over to their high prices.
Whelp in my mind Verizon is still number 1 also who actually thinks all these poeple are going to stay if AT@T fucks up all their plans they might as well go to Verizon or sprint.
I just switched from AT&T to TMobile last year, and this is a complete disaster. With the combination of lower rates and better discounts (my wife is a teacher), we’re paying less per month on a family plan with one smartphone than we were to AT&T with no data plan at all!
Less competition can’t be good for consumers. I’m from Austria in the middle of Europe, we have roughly 8 million inhabitants and 4 competing mobile carriers, whats the outcome? I’m paying 16 euros/month for 1000 minutes voice, 1000 SMS and UNLIMITED 3G (HSDPA) data with free tethering possibility. 3G coverage: 96%. The Nexus S costs 199 Euros incl. tax with such a 2-year contract. The US have 310 Million and only 3 carriers? The consequences are quite clear to me, high on prices, low on innovation. What does Bob mean by wanting to buy a Nexus S without contract, isn’t that possible at a BestBuy? And use it for example with SimplyMobile?
Wow all of us tmobile guys should start a patition starting immediatly to be able to keep unlimited data…att sucks I left att to come to tmobile for a reason.
AT&T is like fucking VD. Almost 10 years ago I left them for Bell South Mobility after the breakup, and they re-merged. So I left them again for Cingular, and then they bought Cingular. I wanted an Android so I jumped to T-Mobile, and now this. I just can’t get rid of them.
I’ll let everyone know which company I choose next. Given my track record, it should be a good stock buy since it seems inevitable that the monopolists will be along shortly thereafter to consume and destroy it.
Somebody wrote earlier: “I’d love to see an article explaining why the European market is so competitive and plans are so cheap compared to ours.”
An article isn’t necessary. The explanation is the 800 pound gorilla in the room, AT&T.
im just hoping, at&t doesnt screw the long time t mobile customers over with there stupid prices. so sad about this. and not very happy at all.
@Evo 4.5G – True, T-mobile customer service was the best. Sprint was using people outside of America who’s first language wasn’t English and they were rude.
Latest news is that Tmobile phones will have to be replaced.
You cant change the radios in phones and as tmobile and Att dont share the same 3g radios. No current tmoble customer will receive any increase in coverage until they buy another phone. Obvoiusly HSDPA+ is another concern as I assume its push will all but Stop. ALL TMO CUSTOMERS careful if you plan on buying a phone in the next year you might be purchasing the mobile version of the HDDVD.
I’m an AT&T customer and I approve this buyout.
Now that AT&T has bought T-mobile I know AT&T is going to bring up plan prices and start putting a cap on T-mobile data plans and turn them into tier plans so that leaves Sprint as the most economical cell phone company and with the mobile devices and tablets that they’re about to release I for one think the that the time to make the switch is now.
@shawn1224 You sir are a douche and i approve your Death!!
At&t stinks, and this will create an environment of a monopoly. At&t is a raging monster.
I come here for info about phones, not armchair financial analysis. I think you’re confusing your website with the Wall Street Journal
right, largest carrier, as long as they can say that they are the largest right? no cares about how the customers will feel about being sand paper condom raped by at&t’s outrageous price plans with data that is capped, or massive bloatware, or android phones that won’t allow for sideloading apps like games from gameloft. nope, AT&T only cares about AT&T, to hell with the customers that like tmobile and the openess that is had with past and present android phones on said carrier that we could do whatever we wanted with them. 100% you was tmobiles original motto with android, now it’s 100% at&t. EPIC FAIL!!!
this is bad for customers. I don’t care how good it is for big corp usa (or Deutshce Telecom). its bad for the individual.
It could also mean that Sprint is going to offer some fantabulous deals. How else will they keep from going under? People were talking about Sprint folding way back when the Pre came out. How would they keep their head above water in this situation? We could be looking at a “Simply Everything” plan with free tethering and a free phone for 50 bucks!
Sprint, I’ve got my eyes on you.
ATT (aka ma-bell) was already broken up once in the 80’s. and they are still at it. Of course with verizon still around neither would be a monopoly, but together they are an un-official trust (i think that’s what its called when multiple companies work together to form and effective monopoly)
@QuickAndroids AT&T says customers on T-mobile AWS band handsets will have to change to AT&T 800/1900 band handsets as it will use AWS for building LTE.
This was mentioned by AT&T in the call about the deal today. AT&T will be using the AWS band for building LTE network.
Will the NEXUS ONE and NEXUS S be replaced with NEXUS brand of handsets by AT&T? Will we get all the goodies of NEXUS handsets as AT&T doesn’t support any of that on its current android handsets? (Otherwise set NEXUS customers free .. we now have sprint)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/T-Moblie-Users-against-the-ATT-Merger/201176316568811?sk=wall boycott it.
Trust me it’s bad, I’m in Canada where we have had a Tri-opoly and our plans are way worse than yours! Things are just starting to get better for us now that we have several new providers on the scene creating competition.
If Verizon does buy Sprint, the USA can look forward to 3 year terms, no unlimited plans and much higher prices! A duopoply is a scary thought!
PS. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! The T-Mo girl is gone for good!
Well I guess the question now is do I really need a GSM phone, or will CDMA suffice.
I alerted TMo I’d be leaving them as a subscriber of 10 years the day this deal is approved. This is bad.
All this means is higher prices for TMO customers, and possibly Sprint gaining ground since budget concious tmo customers will probably prefer Sprints value over Verizon’s astronomical prices and caps. But in the long run, less choices mean higher prices and companies who treat you like shit when they know you have no alternative choices.
@shoulderporkroast. You can wish for my death all you want. As an AT&T customer we’ll start seeing better signal coverage where we were weak at and likewise with tmobile customers. Why wouldn’t I approve this buyout you dimwit.
First casualty of the Merger…the Tmo girl.
I agree. The Tmo girl is hot.
Anyways, this article should be titled, “Who Cares”. The vast majority of consumers just want mobile service that is reasonably priced and works well. If they have that, any mergers won’t concern them. Only smart phone geeks will care.
This poem is for any ex T-Mobile people who are pissed we have to be AT&T customers now!
http://undermyfitted.blogspot.com/2011/03/bars-of-service-at-dis.html
Let’s spread the word…this sucks and we hate it! (I still hope this thing falls through somehow….)
I ran from AT&T to T-Mobile, and have never been happier…till I got this news. I spent all morning looking for a way to contact the FTC and make my displeasure known. I found it! Here’s the info:
How you can help
If you have an antitrust problem or complaint, or if you wish to provide information that may be helpful in an investigation, contact the Federal Trade Commission.
E-mail
[email protected]
If you wish to submit confidential information, send it by mail and mark it “Confidential.”
Federal Trade Commission
Bureau of Competition-H374,
Washington, D.C. 20580
Telephone
(1–877–382–4357)
1–877–FTC–HELP
Speak your mind. I plan to.
Two comments (questions):
1. Free tethering with T-Mobile?? I have only seen this available at T-Mobile for $9.99/mo. Not for free.
2. Since AT&T bought out T-Mobile, significantly changing the terms of our agreements as they existed when we signed up for them. Does that mean we can get out of our plans with no penalty?? I didn’t sign up with AT&T!! I don’t want to be on AT&T. :(
When I first read this, I cried myself to sleep. I originally had fights with Cingular, and so out of principle, ATT died for me. Their customer service was all kinds of aweful.
My biggest complaint though, is that since Tmo is a German company, they’re the ONLY phone company that truly understands “the rest of the world,” which is why they allow you to unlock your phone (and do it free after 3 months) so you can put foreign chips in. “The world” continues past california and continues past boston…I know…SHOCKER.
With Steve Jobs on his last leg, and ATT holding on to their bread and butter, the iPhuck, and killing android, we’re doomed. :-(
I’m hoping the merger falls through…cause the break-up is a sweet deal for Tmo.
2012…maybe the world ends before the deal is approved…
Rob, i really think you are a pathetic excuse for a writer… the deal hasnt been approved by any party. Its just an offer AT&T is putting forth. DT has yet to approve it and even if it does, the FCC will not approve the deal without a lot of restrictions.
If you are going to report on news way after it happens, at least read what the articles about it have to say.
US to become Canada???
AT&T is committed to innovation and has the best network of all the providers. This move will enhance AT&T’s wireless position and, in the entire wireless arena, provide the ultimate choice for wireless customers. I think this is an excellent move by AT&T. Verizon is going to be left in the dust… AT&T has been getting better and better as time goes on. Enough said. Good move AT&T!
why why damm it.i left AT&T years ago because of there evil ways.,and i’m with tmobile now.crap! why AT&T you keep haunting me.stay away from me.i wish AT&T will go away for ever.they are the worst most evil company i delt with.
Write the FCC and let them know you don’t approve this merger.
Fuck at&t, fuck them in their stupid asses
‘Point me towards the petition to sign
Google blew it. :-(
man i dont know what to do lol i was looking forward for the lg optimus g2x or the htc prymid and not this happen. tmobile say just buy the cellphone u want and live with it. they say its gonna take time before anything will happen with att. but i’ll still be sign on a 2 year contract when and if the merger would happen and i hope it doesnt but only the fcc and ftc can say when they review this and decide the outcome. ohhhh plz i hope not i love tmobile
Lol. Pubic disclosure
Yeah, those may be positives for AT&T’s creaking network, but for T-Mobile customers this spells F@#$ YOU (repeat as many times as you like). I’m not staying through this.
Y’all sound like some little whiney bitches…..
This is unacceptable, I don’t care how anyone spins it. This merger will result in the cellular phone landscape being ruined. Here’s how it will play out, folks:
1) Tmobile will disappear, along with affordability and exceptional customer service.
2) An uproar will occur over the “newly acquired” att customers, many post paid will switch to vzw, not that they want to, or sprint when their contract runs out or cancel the contract early altogether and suck up the early termination fee if att implements their inexcusably bad plans…att hopefully will greatly suffer
3) from this time, verizon will either acquire sprint, be in the process of it, or will just let poor sprint die a slow, painful death
4) regardless of what happens, there will be two major national carriers left, verizon, and att. little competition, higher prices, less phone choices, customer satisfaction drops dramatically, because there are only two options, an overpriced restrictive carrier, and a horrendous overpriced restrictive carrier. Duopoly occurs, prices go up, consumers lose even more.
All in all, for the few people who are glad that tmobile will go down, let me just say this. Tmobile will never be the foremost premium major national carrier, yes dropped calls, spotty service in some areas, and less than stellar phone lineups have always been an issue. For the millions of people who subscribe to tmobile, they know it as well and are for the most part ok with it. Tmobile is meant for people who want a plan in between 40 and 60 dollars a month, people who want a generous amount of data for their smartphones but cant afford or make do with obnoxious 2gb data caps. Tmobile is meant for people who want an affordable pre paid plan that works for them, not punishes them for being able to choose prepaid over post paid plans. All in all, I don’t care how big and powerful att is, i dont care if verizon has the nations number one network, when phone companies like those two price gouge and take advantage of consumers with bullshit 20 dollar per month “unlimited” texting plans, 2gb data capped smartphone plans, horribly high priced, minute lacking phone plans, something is wrong. Not everyone can afford unlimited data, calling, texting plans that are over a hundred dollars a month, tmobile is meant for the average person who wants a high quality carrier with decent cell phones, good customer service, but cannot afford the obnoxiously high prices “the big two” offer. When Tmobile is absorbed, a huge ripple will go through the cell phone industry, and consumers will have one less, and eventually two less choices, ironically the ones that are the most afordable. No one sees it now, but a monopoly will occur. Rockafeller, Wal-Mart, no? See a pattern here? Read the history of the above titans, and you will see the picture I am painting here. If Tmobile loses, everyone WILL lose down the road. call tmobile, call att, call the fcc, call the department of justice, call your legislators and make it be heard this is unacceptable. The iphone fanboys might rejoice in this matter, but all cell phone consumers, even the fanboys will realize how horrible this will turn out to be. get on that phone, let the voices be heard, we will not take this!!!!!
a few trolls here and there, but in the end im so happy everybody came out to share their two cents about a possible future that none of us, true android enthuziasts, agree to…
LEAVE ROOM FOR INNOVATION FROM AN END USERS ANGLE TO, NOT ONLY FOR MONEY HUNGRY CORPORATIONS THAT HAVE COMMUNIST VIEWS OF MAKING BUSINESS!
This deal only makes sense for AT&T if they can retain most of T-Mobiles customers. Which they won’t. Because they’re paying almost double in some estimations, they’ll be scrimping on service just like they always have, and raising prices on T-Mobile customers almost immediately. If the government lets this farce go through (and they will because money talks) my greatest hope is that AT&T alienates all T-Mobile customers, loses them to Verizon, and goes tits up trying to service this massive debt. Fingers crossed.
Is AT &T really that bad?
This is horrible, horrible news. I’ve enjoyed using T-Mo for years and I have heard nothing but negative comments about AT&T — data plans, customer disservice, pricing.
The only thing AT&T has done right is: rollover minutes. That and the iPhone. Other than that, they’re a MAJOR FAIL.
Looks like I’ll be giving Verizon another try in the not-too-distant future.
Let the plan fail and then have a sprint tmobile merger with Sprint buying out Tmobile :) #1 cell phone provider best phones largest coverage and largest customer base….
This is horrible. I’ve been with T-Mobile as long as I can remember!.
:(
The guy who wrote that long nooooo needs to be slapped and sent to bed….lol…lol
OMFG, OMFG.
Never will I be a customer of ATT! NEVER! I hate that company with a mortal passion. It wasn’t enough that they had a feaken monopoly for 60+ years and over charged us on long distance bills to provide a positive profit for their stock holders and union workers.
Oh my God, you would not believe the pension plans former ATT workers still have!!!!! And we paid for it though their over charging us on long distance and local calls for years!!!
Did I say I HATE ATT???!!!!!! I don’t need a freaken cell phone to pay for an overpriced voice application!!!!!
If this merger is approved, Good bye to T-Mobile (ATT) hello to anyone but ATT!!!!!
@spanki LOL wrong richard. My bad for blindly walking in front of the firing squad! :D
AT&T’s new slogan spinoff on their atrix marketing.
AT&T and T-Mobile Joining Forces?
Double the selection?
Double the coverage?
Double the price?
YES!
haha u so funny the other Richard, but so right!
yes
yes
Sorry, but Sprint’s service is the worst. Not only that but they were close to declaring bankrupt last year. They have no chance of buying out anybody
Sorry, but Sprint’s service is the worst. Not only that but they were close to declaring bankrupt last year. They have no chance of buying out anybody
I just came to T-Mobiile from AT&T because I was part of the buyout of Alltel. Alltel was good to us, I enjoyed their service and I really didn’t have an opinion of AT&T UNTIL I we merged with them….. AT&T phones constantly lock up, the replacement phones we got were nothing like the phones we got from Alltel. We lost the download speed for our internet. I sat next to a lady in the mall after I got my new phone from T-Mobile, she was on an AT&T iPhone. We struck up conversation and she asked me how I like T-Mobile because she was considering going to T-Mobile. She made her decision to switch when she asked me to download a video she was trying to access on her iPhone, so I did. We press enter at the same time. My video downloaded within seconds…hers? took 2 minutes. 2 MINUTES!!! I told her I’m glad I’m not longer with AT&T. She said her contract just ended and she may go to T-Mobile. Now I have to bite another bullet!!! I am so upset!!!!!! I don’t want to be under AT&T, I never felt so bully’d, it used to be we had choices. Forget that now. I’m still within my 20 days to cancel without paying an early termination fee. I think I’m going to pay Verizon a visit to see what my options are with them.
I just came to T-Mobiile from AT&T because I was part of the buyout of Alltel. Alltel was good to us, I enjoyed their service and I really didn’t have an opinion of AT&T UNTIL I we merged with them….. AT&T phones constantly lock up, the replacement phones we got were nothing like the phones we got from Alltel. We lost the download speed for our internet. I sat next to a lady in the mall after I got my new phone from T-Mobile, she was on an AT&T iPhone. We struck up conversation and she asked me how I like T-Mobile because she was considering going to T-Mobile. She made her decision to switch when she asked me to download a video she was trying to access on her iPhone, so I did. We press enter at the same time. My video downloaded within seconds…hers? took 2 minutes. 2 MINUTES!!! I told her I’m glad I’m not longer with AT&T. She said her contract just ended and she may go to T-Mobile. Now I have to bite another bullet!!! I am so upset!!!!!! I don’t want to be under AT&T, I never felt so bully’d, it used to be we had choices. Forget that now. I’m still within my 20 days to cancel without paying an early termination fee. I think I’m going to pay Verizon a visit to see what my options are with them.
I just came to T-Mobiile from AT&T because I was part of the buyout of Alltel. Alltel was good to us, I enjoyed their service and I really didn’t have an opinion of AT&T UNTIL I we merged with them….. AT&T phones constantly lock up, the replacement phones we got were nothing like the phones we got from Alltel. We lost the download speed for our internet. I sat next to a lady in the mall after I got my new phone from T-Mobile, she was on an AT&T iPhone. We struck up conversation and she asked me how I like T-Mobile because she was considering going to T-Mobile. She made her decision to switch when she asked me to download a video she was trying to access on her iPhone, so I did. We press enter at the same time. My video downloaded within seconds…hers? took 2 minutes. 2 MINUTES!!! I told her I’m glad I’m not longer with AT&T. She said her contract just ended and she may go to T-Mobile. Now I have to bite another bullet!!! I am so upset!!!!!! I don’t want to be under AT&T, I never felt so bully’d, it used to be we had choices. Forget that now. I’m still within my 20 days to cancel without paying an early termination fee. I think I’m going to pay Verizon a visit to see what my options are with them.
I just came to T-Mobiile from AT&T because I was part of the buyout of Alltel. Alltel was good to us, I enjoyed their service and I really didn’t have an opinion of AT&T UNTIL I we merged with them….. AT&T phones constantly lock up, the replacement phones we got were nothing like the phones we got from Alltel. We lost the download speed for our internet. I sat next to a lady in the mall after I got my new phone from T-Mobile, she was on an AT&T iPhone. We struck up conversation and she asked me how I like T-Mobile because she was considering going to T-Mobile. She made her decision to switch when she asked me to download a video she was trying to access on her iPhone, so I did. We press enter at the same time. My video downloaded within seconds…hers? took 2 minutes. 2 MINUTES!!! I told her I’m glad I’m not longer with AT&T. She said her contract just ended and she may go to T-Mobile. Now I have to bite another bullet!!! I am so upset!!!!!! I don’t want to be under AT&T, I never felt so bully’d, it used to be we had choices. Forget that now. I’m still within my 20 days to cancel without paying an early termination fee. I think I’m going to pay Verizon a visit to see what my options are with them.
I just came to T-Mobiile from AT&T because I was part of the buyout of Alltel. Alltel was good to us, I enjoyed their service and I really didn’t have an opinion of AT&T UNTIL I we merged with them….. AT&T phones constantly lock up, the replacement phones we got were nothing like the phones we got from Alltel. We lost the download speed for our internet. I sat next to a lady in the mall after I got my new phone from T-Mobile, she was on an AT&T iPhone. We struck up conversation and she asked me how I like T-Mobile because she was considering going to T-Mobile. She made her decision to switch when she asked me to download a video she was trying to access on her iPhone, so I did. We press enter at the same time. My video downloaded within seconds…hers? took 2 minutes. 2 MINUTES!!! I told her I’m glad I’m not longer with AT&T. She said her contract just ended and she may go to T-Mobile. Now I have to bite another bullet!!! I am so upset!!!!!! I don’t want to be under AT&T, I never felt so bully’d, it used to be we had choices. Forget that now. I’m still within my 20 days to cancel without paying an early termination fee. I think I’m going to pay Verizon a visit to see what my options are with them.
I just came to T-Mobiile from AT&T because I was part of the buyout of Alltel. Alltel was good to us, I enjoyed their service and I really didn’t have an opinion of AT&T UNTIL I we merged with them….. AT&T phones constantly lock up, the replacement phones we got were nothing like the phones we got from Alltel. We lost the download speed for our internet. I sat next to a lady in the mall after I got my new phone from T-Mobile, she was on an AT&T iPhone. We struck up conversation and she asked me how I like T-Mobile because she was considering going to T-Mobile. She made her decision to switch when she asked me to download a video she was trying to access on her iPhone, so I did. We press enter at the same time. My video downloaded within seconds…hers? took 2 minutes. 2 MINUTES!!! I told her I’m glad I’m not longer with AT&T. She said her contract just ended and she may go to T-Mobile. Now I have to bite another bullet!!! I am so upset!!!!!! I don’t want to be under AT&T, I never felt so bully’d, it used to be we had choices. Forget that now. I’m still within my 20 days to cancel without paying an early termination fee. I think I’m going to pay Verizon a visit to see what my options are with them.
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
I’ve been with AT&T for almost two years, I’ve had a few issues with customer service but never with their coverage or speed, many of my friends have tmobile and verizon and my iPhone 3G has blown their android Phones out of the water in terms of coverage and speed, as long as AT&T adopts tmobiles policies and becomes more android friendly then I see nothing but good coming to both AT&T and tmobile customers, verizon will probably buy sprint but this would just be good for sprint and verizon customers, more coverage and reliability for both companies. No clusterf*ck, just better service
att&t sucks verizon is too xpensive. tmo, y did u do have to sell out. fuck u 4 doin it. boost mobile here i come.
Totally making a move over to Verizon… I know I ain’t the only one either. At&t SUCKS!! Trust me, had it and will never go back. Customer service sucks, drop calls all the time, prices horrible, etc… I can go on. The only good thing they had going was the Iphone but now Verizon has it. As far as I can see, Verizon is gonna get a great cut out of this deal.
I didn’t take the time to read all of the comments here but I haven’t seen in what I have read the difference between tmobile and atts customer service I have home internet through att and cell phone service through tmobile. usually after I get off of a call from att I’m completely frustrated and drained and nothing has been accomplished. But after I get off a call from tmobile its usually a great experience. Nothing good could come from this.
Being unhappy with customer service and reporting an anti-trust violation are completely separate issues. Nobody cares what you think about ATT, especially not the government.
Anti-trust laws are very serious, and this is not a violation. by any means
Read some books. Learn what the law is, and dont misrepresent it.
I’ve had AT&T all my life until I got married last year. AT&T had some down times, like over billing me, but other than that, I love them.
TMobile on the other hand, isn’t THAT bad, but I’d rather not.. I don’t get service in my home town, and my Faves don’t update like it should. Plus AT&T seems to have more coverage. It’s REALLY annoying to be in a town you don’t know and not have data coverage to find out where to go.