The Death Star advances
Barack Obama, always fond of pie-in-the-sky proposals, said in his State of the Union message that he wanted 98 percent of the country covered by high-speed wireless within five years.
I think it’s safe to assume the President didn’t anticipate the plopping of this meadow muffin:
AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom for an estimated $39 billion in cash and stock, the companies said in a joint release Sunday.
The acquisition will expand AT&T’s 4G network 1.2 million square miles, making it accessible to an additional 46.5 million Americans, the statement said. AT&T also expects to gain enough cell towers to increase its network density by 30%.
I suppose going from “wholly inadequate” to merely “inadequate” counts as a win in some circles, but just about everybody loses in this deal:
T-Mobile has been pretty experimental and innovative — it has experiment with newer technologies such as UMA, built its own handsets and has generally been a more consumer centric company. AT&T on the other hand has [the] innovation of a lead pencil and has the mentality more suited to a monopoly — a position it wants to regain.
The chances that the Obama administration will raise even the slightest antitrust questions are somewhere between slim and none. We know this much: AT&T is forking over $25 billion in cash (the rest is in stock) for this deal. That’s $25 billion they weren’t about to spend on actually upgrading their network.
If I were U. S. Cellular, I’d be making some spectacular consumer offers right about now.
Disclosure: I’ve been a T-Mobile customer since the VoiceStream days. I do not expect to remain one.
Addendum: This should be Fark Blurb of the Year: “AT&T is getting married to T-Mobile. There will be no reception afterwards”.
McGehee »
21 March 2011 · 6:12 pm
Well, FWIW, AT&T could have kitshanned Cingular’s “rollover minutes” scheme when they kicked the orange X guy to the curb, but they didn’t.
Picking up good ideas by devouring the companies that came up with them isn’t exactly Cricket, but it could be worse.
Dan B »
21 March 2011 · 9:37 pm
We switched to T-Mobile to get AWAY from Ma Bell back in 2007, especially after AT&T quit using the tower that was in line-of-sight from my house and reception went from 4-5 bars to zero.
Time to start looking into US Cellular and Cricket.
fillyjonk »
22 March 2011 · 7:59 am
I remember the breakup of Ma Bell back in the 80s. I’m wondering, if, as some people claim, this decade is a re-hash of the 70s, if come, I don’t know, 2022 or sometime, if A T and T will be fragmented. (And then begin re-acquiring its fragments: lather, rinse, repeat.)
I have no love for A T and T even though they provide my landline (after gobbling up SBC). Their telemarketing techniques are akin to the worst and neediest boyfriend ever – calling several times a week to beg for you to take them on for more stuff, even when you say “no, and leave me alone” until you finally crack and get the telemarketing version of a restraining order against them.
Dan, I have US Cellular for my mobile phone and I’ve never had a problem with them. One time when I thought my phone had been stolen, they cancelled my plan without complaint, and then reinstated it (free of charge to me) when it turned out the phone had not been stolen but had merely fallen under the seat of my car while the guy was breaking into it.
LeeAnn »
22 March 2011 · 8:43 am
We went Verizon to escape AT&T, although honestly one sucks as much as the other out here. Still, it’s the whole megalithic feel of this that makes me squirmy.
Remember back in our heyday when there were pirate radio stations, little broadcasters secretly providing content and entertainment that the BigStations wouldn’t? If it were technically possible, it would be nice to see pirate cellphone networks.
I’m not tech enough to know if this is possible or even has been tried, but it appeals to me.
Tatyana »
22 March 2011 · 9:04 am
I called my T-Mobile customer service yesterday, to a) inquire how much time is left on my contract with them b) find out if the rates will grow after the merger.
a) apparently, it’s expired – and I’m free to look into competition plans (yay!)
b)nobody knows. But I was asked, respectfully, if the merger will cause me to stop being their customer. Yes, I said – and in 2 hrs after that conversation T-Mo called with automated customer survey.
Too late, guys…
fillyjonk »
22 March 2011 · 9:40 am
Tat: if, after the merger and your leaving t-mobil, A T and T starts doing to you what they did to me after I dropped my long-distance coverage with them (calling me weekly asking me “what they did wrong” and how they could improve service), call the customer-service line, at the voice-prompt, say “Telemarketing sucks,” and when they say something like, “It sounds like you are having a problem with unwanted sales calls,” say “yes,” and it takes you to a person who should be able to remove you from their list of people to call.
I didn’t say A T and T was like a bad clingy boyfriend for nothing….I’d say “I don’t want your long distance/dsl/whatever other service” and they’d keep calling. I’d say “Put me on your no-call list” and they’d say “But you already do business with us, so, ha ha, we can keep calling”
So I finally called customer service in a desperation move, got into voicemail hell, and finally burst out with that “Telemarketing sucks!” in frustration, and to my amazement, managed to get what I wanted all along.
Tatyana »
22 March 2011 · 9:47 am
FJ: another reason to run from a-t-n-t + T-Mo. I have enough experience with stalkers as it is.
Thanks for the tip *scribbles in notebook:”…ing sucks!”
kbnorman »
23 March 2011 · 4:36 pm
Understand the distaste for AT&T, but what’s a T-mobile customer to do in OKC? The best coverage around here are T-mobile and AT&T. Verizon is really good elsewhere, but not so much in the Plains states, especially Oklahoma, and I’ve heard a lot of people have issues with their customer service, billing, etc. AT&T had better offer a killer deal to trade my 3G T-mobile phone up to 4G since they’re the ones forcing the upgrade.