AT&T buys T-Mobile USA for $39B

[shockwave]

First it's bandwidth caps for their internet customers now their purchasing T-Mobile which effectively makes them the largest provider in the US but what's worse is now AT&T and Verizon control 70% of the US market so what do you think this is going to do prices not to mention additional restrictions we will definitely be paying more for less. I guess I just don't get it, we spent millions of tax payer dollars to dismantle AT&T years ago and now the government just going to sit by and let this happen all over again? I know this is still subject to regulatory approval but I really don't see anyone stepping up to prevent it from happening.

AT&T announced that the new entity would be the biggest in the US with 130 million subscribers.


Image via Engadget

The national mobile carrier choices for US consumers will decrease by one if the purchase of Deutsche Telekom AG's U.S. T-Mobile unit by AT&T (T) passes regulatory hurdles. The $39 billion deal, announced ahead of a major wireless conference in Orlando tomorrow, would create the nation's largest wireless carrier and drop the big US mobile carriers to just three.

Charles Golvin from Forrester Research said of the deal:

"AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile, if approved, brings good news and bad news. The good news: high-speed mobile broadband service will improve in quality and coverage, including — in the long run — those in rural communities outside the reach of terrestrial broadband today. The bad news: the cost of that service won't come down nearly as fast as customers would like, since AT&T and Verizon Wireless combined would own nearly three out of every four wireless subscriptions in the US. While clearly troublesome for Sprint and other mobile smaller mobile competitors, It's also bad news for cable operators, whose incipient mobility products will suffer in comparison to what AT&T and Verizon can offer."

The new entity would also be the only GSM carrier in the US, something that will certainly play big with global users who use GSM when they travel abroad. The move will also consolidate spectrum held by the two units. The good news for current consumers is that radio equipment and devices on the two carriers are largely, but not totally, compatible.

When the deal is all said and done, Deutsche Telekom will own about 8% of the new, combined AT&T according to an internal document shared with TmoNews.

I don't expect this to fly through US regulatory agencies because the mobile landscape, contrary to Google (GOOG)/Verizon's (VZ) claims, isn't competitive enough in the US. This move will only make it worse.

T-Mobile USA has set up a Q&A for its customers on the transition, expected to take 12 months. AT&T has set up a site at Mobilizeeverything.com for more information on the deal.

Source:AT&T-Mobile: AT&T buys T-Mobile USA for $39B - Google 24/7 - Fortune Tech

 

[RainMotorsports]

Its going to sit idle for a year while everyone lodges their complaints. Thats the reason why the deal isnt effective immediately. But look at it this way, maybe AT&T will finally have some coverage, on the GSM end anyways lol.

 

[Soulzz]

Shit = more shit? God, I absolutely despite AT&T.

 

[sixer9682]

Looks like it's time to dismantle them again. Monopoly anybody? Hmmm, seems I've heard this song before.

 

[Bob369963]

Sprint critiques proposed AT&T / T-Mobile deal, says buyout would 'dramatically alter' telecom industry

By Sean Hollister posted Mar 20th 2011 11:42PM

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This afternoon, AT&T and T-Mobile dedicated a twenty-eight page PDF to convincing regulators that their $39 billion aquisition wouldn't violate antitrust law, using images like the one above. Well, as you can imagine, Sprint had something to say about that, and you can read it immediately below.

The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile USA, if approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), would alter dramatically the structure of the communications industry. AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would be almost three times the size of Sprint, the third largest wireless competitor. If approved, the merger would result in a wireless industry dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically-integrated companies that control almost 80% of the US wireless post-paid market, as well as the availability and price of key inputs such as backhaul and access needed by other wireless companies to compete. The DOJ and the FCC must decide if this transaction is in the best interest of consumers and the US economy overall, and determine if innovation and robust competition would be impacted adversely and by this dramatic change in the structure of the industry.​

Last week, rumors flew that Sprint, not AT&T, would be the one to join T-Mobile and create a vast wireless network, and while we haven't heard any proof of that so far, it probably wouldn't be terribly happy to settle for "number 1 spectrum position" if the tables were indeed turned.

 

[ErikStenger]

No word if the new towers will help prevent dropped calls when I'm sitting on the john talking to people and pretending I'm not in the bathroom, but hopefully. Oh that? I'm skipping rocks. Yeah, by the old railroad tracks. UUHHHHNNNNNN!! Now I just picked up and dropped a big-ass boulder in the water.