Comments on news posted 2011-03-21 13:46:32: After surprising everybody with their Sunday announcement that they'd be buying T-Mobile for $39 billion, AT&T today began the difficult process of trying to convince the public and regulators that eliminating one of the four major carriers -- while .. ..
I get my verizon phone on tuesday, knowing AT&T they will take the worst parts of both companies. AT&T will retain their crappy customer service as the migrate t-mobiles excellent customer service to their crappy service and the fast growing t-mobile network deployment will grind to a halt as AT&T hates spending any actual money on their network. This is going to be a LOSE - LOSE for everyone, I feel worst for the current t-mobile subscribers the current network has patchy coverage but if you live in an area that is well covered the speeds are nice and fast.
Will their service turn to crap during the transition?
When AT&T Old merged with Cingular customers from both companies suffered through about a year of crappy service with many dropped calls and coverage issues. I wonder if AT&T new and T-Mobile customers will have to suffer the same fate? How soon will the Bull Shit start with the excuses that prices will have to go up so the wireless weasels can upgrade the networks. Don't believe anything said, that indicates that prices will go down. Now that the T-Mobile fly buzzing around AT&T management has been swatted, I am sure that there will be back room deals between AT&T and Verizon to raise prices and reduce and then sell back features to their customers. Think charging customers for tethering smart phones to use the data plan they are already paying for.
I think most t-mobile subscribers who hate AT&T like myself will leave when our contracts are up. Fortunately, it looks like it'll take at least a year for the AT&T integration to be approved so that should give enough time for my existing contract to expire.
Then it'll be Verizon or Sprint if Sprint becomes what T-Mobile used to be before the dark times. Before the Empire ...
'Craig Moffett, analyst with Bernstein Research, cut his rating on Sprint Nextel to underperform from market perform, just one week after having upgraded his rating. Moffett said that with its own T-Mobile deal off the table, the company is left to go it alone. ' »www.marketwatch.com/stor ··· id=yhoof
This BS comes under the headline ....get ready for it......are your feet up?.........."AT&T promises better service from merger"
You're doing as if Verizon is any different. Hello, both of them have bought the Government wholesale.
Verizon may have a good product in limited areas with FiOS, and nationwide with wireless service.
But just look at how they have basically hung out many customers in rural and even suburban areas to dry. If Verizon truly cared they would not sell off rural markets to losers like Fairpoint and Frontier, and make them agree to ridiculous conditions like not allowing them to expand their fiber optic service areas.
It's all about the money. But the FiOS fanboys got theirs so all hail Verizon.
My guess is that you wouldn't have that choice -- Verizon would swallow up Sprint in response.
The real question to me is whether they try to do so as a tactic to get the ATT/TMO deal scotched. This would be similar to Coca Cola buying Dr Pepper in response to Pepsi buying 7-Up in the mid 1980's. The FTC killed both deals as anti-competitive. This is similar, with a helluva lot more importance on the US economy than sugar-water. The question is whether the FTC still has a spine.
lol. We also need a new "death star" logo that we ("att mgt") can spend $5 million designing as its more urgent than new cell towers and will look good on new letters from lobbyists to congress. Its all a win win win for consumers.....
As long as I have had a cell phone I have been a T-Mobile customer because of the price and value they offered. Just as I avoid the gigantic banks because of their myriad collection of fees and lousy interest rates, I avoid AT&T and VZW because they are the most expensive providers of what should be a commodity service.
What AT&T is really looking forward to is 35 million new people to gouge with higher fees and lousier plans. I don't for one minute believe they will continue to offer the kinds of value plans that T-Mobile offers even though they claim the merger will save $40 billion. Save for who? If anything, the customers will get even higher charges.
I have a 500 minute a month plan with unlimited nights and weekends for $29.99/month without a contract. Am I stupid enough to think AT&T will let me keep THAT plan as long as I choose to be a customer? Fat chance! They will probably tell me I need an unwanted smartphone (have an iPod Touch 4 that I am happy with) with 300 minutes a month, text package and data plan for $89.99. I recall the problems the old AT&T Blue customers went through after Cingular took over the old AT&T and I don't think us T-Mobile customers will fare any better.
I am all for competition and I hope the FTC sees this for what it is. If anything, I could accept a buyout if it was something along the lines of Rogers/Fido in Canada. A wholely owned subsidiary that was free to set its own rates and plans. They could share the network but would each retain their own customers.
I will stay with T-Mobile as long as I keep my Even More Plus family plan...but I really doubt that will happen once AT&T takes over. Then it's over to Sprint for my family.
Sprint needs to go ahead and buy up Cellular South and a couple of other regional carriers. It's the only way they can survive. If they had decent coverage here I'd be porting right now.
I could also see Comcast buying out Sprint.... it will be interesting for sure.
"In 1934, the government set AT&T up as a regulated monopoly under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission, in the Communications Act of 1934."
The difference now is that they are an unregulated monopoly, with the Dept. of Justice in their back pocket.
Instead of the DOJ smashing the Ma Bell monopoly as in 1984, you have them blessing each merger.
Facism, as defined by Mussolini, is the combining of State and Corporate power.
Forget all you 4G fanbois..I am goin with ATT+T 5G!!
I thought they were coming out with InfiniG next year.
"at&t's new InfiniG technology.. Infinity times better than your current xG service! Guaranteed to exceed your caps in under a minute of usage, and check out our overage fees per BIT!"