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Off-shoring moneyWhile I never felt that it was truly necessary to "buy American", the money that subscribers of T-Mobile pay for wireless service is, in part, going to Germany (DT). Would not the merger of AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile stop the money that T-Mobile sends to its parent company, and divert that cash back to AT&T Mobility, effectively making former T-Mobile customers "buying American"? How much of that cash would either be re-invested by AT&T, or written off on short term charges for the purchase of T-Mobile? I'm sure this is a naive understanding of how things really work. |
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roymustang Premium Member join:2002-01-12 Cincinnati, OH |
I'm not sure what the problem is with the money going to Germany. They are not an enemy of the United States. I buy the best product for the price, be it American, European, Chinese, or Japanese.
Quite frankly, I think the best idea would be to try and coax Vodaphone to sell their chunk of VZW back and buy TM USA. The very structure of American telecom is a joke and it would be great to see a company shake it up, break the link between phones, and contracts, increase the prevalence of prepaid, and basically open up a stale and uncompetitive market. Maybe that is all a pipe dream; but, it is infinitely better than decreasing the already slim number of nationwide carriers. |
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to rockhounds_5
At least this German company keeps plan prices lowish, doesn't charge customers for outrageous overages and then claims 'oops', and actually reinvests revenue into building out the network. There would be no HSPA+42 without T-Mobile. This is the same as we would not have fancyfast ARM cpus/gpus devices w upscale capacitive touch without iPhones. Innovation.
Who had 3G GSM first? Who came second? Who makes more money than the other yet has inferior 3G tech and inferior coverage consistency (dropped calls)?
Meanwhile, this 'other' network spends most of its time finding inventive ways to milk its customer without actually improving service. It's almost like a HMO, or some 1% Wallstreeter.
I guess you like the 2nd camp more?
So really? The objection is that we shouldn't be capitalists and competitively vote for the innovative business that provided the best service (in our personal point of view) just because it's a foreign owned? |
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Stumbles join:2002-12-17 Port Saint Lucie, FL |
to rockhounds_5
Well Germany needs our money to keep the governments of Greece, Spain and Italy afloat. |
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to roymustang
I, too buy what I think is the best product. I own two Japanese vehicles, a Ford pickup, and two Chevy's. While Germany is not an enemy, they were, and there are some folks out there that still remember this. However, it is likely irrelevant. American telecom a joke? American telecom is like any other large industry in the US - oil, automobile, power generation, etc. Their model for running a business is the same. Put powerful lobbyists in D.C. and throw money at the politicians in hopes that they legislate favorably for their interests. With a trust-busting ideology present in the current administration, this model won't work. I would think that as long as we have Verizon wireless that the wireless market will be anything but stale. |
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rockhounds_5 |
to Stumbles
Sad but true. |
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to roymustang
said by roymustang:The very structure of American telecom is a joke and it would be great to see a company shake it up, break the link between phones, and contracts, increase the prevalence of prepaid, and basically open up a stale and uncompetitive market T-Mobile USA has done all of those things. You can get cheaper rate plans if you bring your own equipment. I believe you can go without a contract as well. Not sure how much it has shaken up the market when you look at T-Mobile's churn rate vs. AT&T or Verizon. I do think it would be doing our market a disservice if they left though. |
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