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Comments on news posted 2012-10-03 08:42:17: As leaks had suggested yesterday, Deutsche Telekom's board this morning approved a deal that would combine T-Mobile and MetroPCS. ..

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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Deutche Telekom finally gets to dump T-Mobile

If this gets thru the FCC and DOJ, looks like Deutche Telekom will finally get its wish - to dump T-Mobile in the US and get out of the US market.

trebzon
join:2001-09-03
Grandville, MI

trebzon

Member

Interesting

This could be an interesting development though. T-Mobile's network is not the prize of prizes but MetroPCS' prepaid offerings (probably the most recognizable in that space in the US) will still benefit from that access without a toll to get on. I can definitely see this being a good thing for both organization. Besides, anything that adds any sense of competition to the duopoly that is Verizon and AT&T is a good thing.

LoneGreyWolf
Premium Member
join:2002-09-09
Winter Haven, FL

1 recommendation

LoneGreyWolf

Premium Member

What happens now for us T-Mobile subscribers?

So what happens to those of us that are with T-Mobile now?

We absolutely love T-Mobile and aren't thrilled with MetroPCS and the other carriers are too expensive.

I also know that my wife has been with T-Mobile for over 10 years.
dotditdot
join:2009-09-23
Santa Fe, NM

dotditdot

Member

Nothing changes. The same execs running T-mobile will run the new company; T-mobile parent company, Deutsche Telekom, stills own 74% of the company, so nothing will change. This merger was just a convenient way for them get subs, spectrum, and a way to easily list T-mobile US on the market.

j1349705
Premium Member
join:2006-04-15
Holly Springs, NC

1 edit

j1349705 to LoneGreyWolf

Premium Member

to LoneGreyWolf
Probably nothing. T-Mobile has the bigger network and customer base by far, so everything should stay as is for T-Mobile customers. MetroPCS subscribers will most likely be migrated over to the T-Mobile network, and MetroPCS CDMA will probably be shut down over time. This means eventually MetroPCS customers will need to buy new devices.

MetroPCS does have some LTE coverage, but it is not very fast, so T-Mobile's new LTE network (when it is launched) will be the surviving network. It should be launched next year.
PastTense
join:2011-07-06
united state

PastTense to LoneGreyWolf

Member

to LoneGreyWolf
If you read the press release:
"The transaction significantly accelerates T-Mobile’s Challenger Strategy and the combined company will be a strong, national competitor by:

Combining T-Mobile and MetroPCS’ complementary spectrum to provide greater network coverage, deeper LTE network deployment and a path to at least 20x20 MHz of 4G LTE in many areas. Existing MetroPCS customers will be migrated to a common LTE-based network as they upgrade their handsets;
Increasing scale, which allows the combined company to secure more compelling handsets, content and applications;
Projecting approximately $6-7 billon (net present value) of cost synergies and additional upside from revenue synergies;
Capitalizing on its leading position as a provider of fast growing no-contract services;
Offering a wider selection of attractive, competitively priced plans to better serve the marketplace, including contract, no-contract monthly, SIM-only, pay-as-you-go and mobile broadband services;
Introducing MetroPCS’ plans and services to a larger number of new areas to complement T-Mobile’s offerings; and
Using its stronger network to advance its B2B offerings and MVNO platform."

Terabit
join:2008-12-19

Terabit to trebzon

Member

to trebzon

Re: Interesting

The problem I have with MetroPCS and any budget carrier is that they seem to confuse unlimited for value. Rather than having various tiers, for various types of users, they lock themselves into securing the person who wants unlimited only.

The value carriers around the world on the other hand, including Tmobile's divisions abroad, seem to get that:

1. Not everyone wants or needs unlimited
2. Offering unlimited only serves to congest the network and negatively impact service quality.

Page Plus is probably the only value provider in America that seems to get it. Too bad, they're not expanding and buying up these companies.

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s

Premium Member

One way to destroy a good thing

This is going to suck. Just looked at T-Mobile site and to get something comparable to MetroPCS is going to cost an extra $50 to $70 a month or more.

Benefits of Metro

1) No 2 year agreements with Metro

2) No such thing as Whenever minutes with Metro.

3) Can call ANY domestic phone (cell and home) 24/7

4) No such thing as Metro to Metro calling. Can call any provider for $50 a month

5) All taxes and fees included. Which means all you pay is $50 a month

6) 4G Network

Drawbacks with T-Mobile

1) Whenever MinutesĀ® you can use anytime

2) Two-year agreement—great discounts on phones

3) Two lines to start, add more lines if eligible

4) Unlimited T-MobileĀ® to T-Mobile calling

5) Unlimited Nights and Weekends

6) Free domestic long distance and no digital roaming charges across the US

One way to destroy a good thing!

SteelerRaw
@timet.com

SteelerRaw

Anon

"New" company

Starting off with $20.4B in debt. Yikes!
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

axus to viperpa33s

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to viperpa33s

Re: One way to destroy a good thing

That does make MetroPCS look better. I really don't know anything about them, that's a good overview. I think you listed some benefits of Tmobile such as "great discounts on phones" abd "no digital roaming charges" as drawbacks. 2 year agreement would be bad if Sprint, Verizon, AT&T weren't worse. I've got the minimum minutes and rarely hit the limit, so it hasn't bothered me.

How is the coverage for MetroPCS? Anything like roaming charges?
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

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to FFH5

Re: Deutche Telekom finally gets to dump T-Mobile

Yeah, this is more about DT dumping Tmob rather than the merger allowing them to be more competitive. The real test will be if Tmob stops the loss of customers after the merger.
xenophon

xenophon to SteelerRaw

Member

to SteelerRaw

Re: "New" company

Sprint does too but Tmob/MetroPCS are losing customers.

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s to axus

Premium Member

to axus

Re: One way to destroy a good thing

said by axus:

That does make MetroPCS look better. I really don't know anything about them, that's a good overview. I think you listed some benefits of Tmobile such as "great discounts on phones" abd "no digital roaming charges" as drawbacks. 2 year agreement would be bad if Sprint, Verizon, AT&T weren't worse. I've got the minimum minutes and rarely hit the limit, so it hasn't bothered me.

How is the coverage for MetroPCS? Anything like roaming charges?

MetroPCS current business model is for the metro areas. Last time I looked, they are expanding to more of the outlining areas. Granted, MetroPCS is not for everyone. It's not good for people who travel allot but good for people who are on a limited budget. If you go out of the area MetroPCS area, you need to buy minutes just in case.

I work an hour away from my house and is always within the Metro area. I always maintain at least 4 bars both at home and at work. The problems that Metro has is no different than the problems the big cell carriers have. I would say I had more problems when I had AT&T than I had Metro.

With Metro, no such thing as limited minutes. Don't have to buy anytime minutes. You can call as much as you want when you want without any worries.

Damn, I sound like a commercial for Metro....lol No, I don't work for Metro. I just hate when a good thing happens and something comes a long to take that away.
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

1 recommendation

axus

Member

Nah, it's OK to be a happy customer. Look at it this way, what if AT&T had bought MetroPCS? If MetroPCS were acquired, T-mobile should be your first choice. Best case scenario, you can keep your same plans and have more towers on your network.
axus

axus to SteelerRaw

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to SteelerRaw

Re: "New" company

Heh, this is a good point, AT&T contributes ~$3 billion, MetroPCS takes ~$15 billion.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

1 recommendation

hottboiinnc4 to Terabit

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to Terabit

Re: Interesting

Page Plus is NOT an actual carrier. They do not own anything in terms of a network. Instead they're one of the OLDEST MVNOs on Verizon Wireless. They've been around since paging and sold that off and went total resell of cellular. They're based in Holland, Ohio (aka a bub of Toledo).
NiteSn0w
join:2010-12-24

1 recommendation

NiteSn0w

Member

Does anyone else smell another Sprint-Nextel catastrophe?

This is going to fail due to both carriers having incompatible voice and data networks/technologies. Unless T-Mobile and MetroPCS start deploying LTE rapidly along side VoLTE there's going to be no benefit for either carrier or their customers.

koopie
@verizon.net

koopie to viperpa33s

Anon

to viperpa33s

Re: One way to destroy a good thing

You should be comparing their prepaid monthly "4G" page, not the contract pages.

»prepaid-phones.t-mobile. ··· 4g-plans
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to xenophon

Member

to xenophon

Re: Deutche Telekom finally gets to dump T-Mobile

They may, but it won't be because of MetroPCS. By the time MetroPCS gets merged in, TMo will have LTE-A across at least part of their footprint.

tmh
@verizon.net

tmh to viperpa33s

Anon

to viperpa33s

Re: One way to destroy a good thing

said by viperpa33s:

Benefits of Metro

2) No such thing as Whenever minutes with Metro.

3) Can call ANY domestic phone (cell and home) 24/7

4) No such thing as Metro to Metro calling. Can call any provider for $50 a month

People still call each other? How quaint.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

iansltx to viperpa33s

Member

to viperpa33s
What plan do you have with MetroPCS?

You can get unlimited everything (voice, text, data) for $70 from T-Mobile, or $50ish from one of their MVNOs (like SIMple Mobile). Buy your own phone up front just like you're used to doing. If you go with an MVNO there's no contract.

Also, T-Mobile's network is faster than MetroPCS's network in FLorida. Unless I missed something and MetroPCS is now offering 20 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up reliably over their LTE.
iansltx

iansltx to NiteSn0w

Member

to NiteSn0w

Re: Does anyone else smell another Sprint-Nextel catastrophe?

If I was running the show, I wouldn't be so quick to make enemies with Sprint. They could be a key partner in shutting down MetroPCS's CDMA service quickly and freeing up ex-Metro spectrum for LTE.

MetroPCS already has a roaming agreement with Sprint such that their phones more or less see Sprint as native coverage. TMobile could get the terms of the agreement modified such that ALL CDMA voice and data traffic on MetroPCS would be farmed out to Sprint, removing the need to keep CDMA service going on MetroPCS towers (which can be a bit expensive spectrum-wise, since for a CDMA deployment you need 2.5MHz of paired spectrum including a guard band, and 1.25MHz per additional CDMA channel).

By the time the two companies merge, T-Mobile will probably already have LTE in NYC and Dallas, so that takes care of the data hungry 4G side of MetroPCS devices. At this point, they can turn off the MetroPCS cell sites (which I guarantee they'll do in most cases), remove the equipment and use the spectrum for the T-Mobile LTE network in those markets.

The next step of course is to incentivize current MetroPCS customers, starting with those with CDMA phones, to switch to HSPA T-Mobile phones. The plus side here is that T-Mobile's low-end phones (comparable to MetroPCS CDMA-only phones) will be comparably priced and have access to faster data than MetroPCS phones had (Metro didn't have EvDO in a lot of their footprint). For LTE phones, the push to switch things over will be less swift, as most of their usage will be data, which will already be on T-Mobile.

One thing I expect to come out of this merger is a renewed focus on non-contract plans from T-Mobile. They may just do this under the MetroPCS brand, or retire the MetroPCS brand altogether, but they now have too big of a non-contract base to ignore, like it or not.

Maccawolf
Premium Member
join:2001-02-20
Hillsdale, NJ

Maccawolf to xenophon

Premium Member

to xenophon

Re: Deutche Telekom finally gets to dump T-Mobile

said by xenophon:

The real test will be if Tmob stops the loss of customers after the merger.

Well, I know PERSONALLY, that with this merger, I'm looking elsewhere for MY service. I don't want to have anything to do with MPCS, (it's personal)

j1349705
Premium Member
join:2006-04-15
Holly Springs, NC

j1349705 to NiteSn0w

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to NiteSn0w

Re: Does anyone else smell another Sprint-Nextel catastrophe?

said by NiteSn0w:

This is going to fail due to both carriers having incompatible voice and data networks/technologies. Unless T-Mobile and MetroPCS start deploying LTE rapidly along side VoLTE there's going to be no benefit for either carrier or their customers.

Incorrect. AT&T has acquired CDMA carriers (such as certain Alltel areas that Verizon had to divest) and converted them to GSM/UMTS (mostly UMTS). These transitions were very quick. There's no reason why T-Mobile can't do the same thing.

Verizon has acquired GSM carriers and converted them to CDMA in a very short time.

Don't assume that one carrier's inability to handle a merger involving different network technologies applies to the same industry. With Sprint and Nextel, there was a completely different set of issues including questionable management decisions and the desire to keep iDEN around due to its distinct advantages for push to talk services. Management has changed now at Sprint (for the better) and technology has moved on, and other carriers have likely learned from their mistakes.

There's no benefit to leaving MetroPCS CDMA up and running for any longer than required. It isn't a nationwide network, and it will be easy to sell customers new phones over a relatively short period of time. There's nothing that Metro's CDMA can do that can't be done better over UMTS or LTE. Even Metro's LTE isn't very fast in a lot of markets, so the real benefit here is spectrum, which means moving customers over to the T-Mobile network as soon as possible.
PastTense
join:2011-07-06
united state

PastTense

Member

I think both the AT&T and Verizon situations involved situations where the customers acquired were overwhelmingly postpaid customers. For postpaid customers it is reasonable to give them a new phone, since they are under contract and seldom switch. But is anyone going to do this for prepaid customers--like this MetroPCS situation? And if you wait until all the prepaid customers upgrade their phones naturally it is going to be a very long time (particularly since a lot of them are bargain hunters and won't upgrade except for strong reasons).
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080 to xenophon

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to xenophon

Re: Deutche Telekom finally gets to dump T-Mobile

said by xenophon:

Yeah, this is more about DT dumping Tmob rather than the merger allowing them to be more competitive. The real test will be if Tmob stops the loss of customers after the merger.

The ONLY way to that goal is lowering prices.. and offering much more prepaid flexibility... on par with what Tracfone MVNO companies do today (trac,net10/straight talk).. they have prepaid minutes that scale as low as 4cents/min and unlimited feature phone plans at around $25-$30... Metro once offered an unlimited feature phone plan for $25 a month. There are a whole lot of customers who would be recaptured in this tier... and many more who want a smart phone, but can live with slower data (1-5 megabits). These are prices where VOIP edges out on the high end of cost..

My main concern is MANY people complain about the bad service of MetroPCS... and if Tmobile handles this badly, that can throw upwards of 3-5 million customers into the hands of Sprint, Tracfone MVNOs (which are guess who??? a combination of Sprint, AT&T and Verizon). It's gonna take a miracle not to bungle this the way Sprint did with Nextel.. so good luck!
Terabit
join:2008-12-19

Terabit to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4

Re: Interesting

Yes I get that they're a MVNO. What matters is that they are the only Wireless provider in America that offers plans that many people want. Some only use $12.95 per month. Therefore, why would they want unlimited everything for $50 on MetroPCS.

For example, I pay a fraction for my phone service using CallCentric and the quality is excellent. That is what I want, as I don't need unlimited everything. Apart from PP, which wireless carrier provides the equivalent service?
PastTense
join:2011-07-06
united state

PastTense

Member

How much was MetroPCS valued at?

How much was MetroPCS valued at (per subscriber, premium over current market value...)? Considering these are prepaid customers and incompatible technology I wouldn't expect a lot.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru

MVM

said by PastTense:

How much was MetroPCS valued at (per subscriber, premium over current market value...)?

In June they were valued at about $5.50 per share. YTD highest was about 14.50. 363.5m shares. 9.3 million subscribers. So a low of $214/subscriber and a high of $566/subscriber.

toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

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Re: Deutche Telekom finally gets to dump T-Mobile

Their combined footprint is tiny.

T-Mobile's right now is tiny.
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