View Full Version : AT&T to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion



MikeOKC
03-20-2011, 01:47 PM
Nobody really saw this one coming. Most rumors had Deutsche Telekom buying Sprint or some kind of Sprint/T-Mobile merger. But AT&T?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42181927/ns/business-us_business/

Thunder
03-20-2011, 02:38 PM
So all of T-Mobile customers will now be with AT&T? Those poor souls.

rcjunkie
03-20-2011, 02:41 PM
So all of T-Mobile customers will now be with AT&T? Those poor souls.

I've been with AT&T for 7 years, have always received great service and no problems.

metro
03-20-2011, 02:57 PM
I've been on tmobile forever, and not happy about the merger. Oh well.

MikeOKC
03-20-2011, 03:13 PM
Well, from a customer service standpoint, T-Mobile customers stand to suffer if you believe Consumer Reports. In their annual "Consumer Reports' Best Cellphone Service Survey" AT&T was dead last. Verizon and T-Mobile were 1 and 2 respectively - and neck and neck in most all categories.

kwash
03-20-2011, 03:20 PM
Yep, been with t-mobile for 8yrs. They were dying though, att and verizon rule the wireless industry in america. Tmobile was struggling badly with only 33million customers. Att has 85million and verizon has 100million customers, so tmobile was so far behind, and not to mention tmobile is a german owned company. When its finally said and done, the only options their will be is verizon,att or sprint. Rumors now are that sprint is gonna buy out us cellular, which is a small regional carrier.

MikeOKC
03-20-2011, 03:28 PM
This sure got a lot of attention last week:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/221931/4g_wireless_speed_tests_which_is_really_the_fastes t.html

Look (in the story above) at how comprehensive the testing was. Many gave this test a lot of credibility even with the shock results.

http://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2011/03/4g_speed_test_chart2x-5152351.jpg

Of course, laptop modem speeds belonged to Verizon by a wide margin (their data access to the 4G LTE is incredibly fast (http://products.verizonwireless.com/index.aspx?id=fnd_4g_usb_modems)). But most use their phones for access to 4G.

Edit: Here are the DATA SPEEDS USING LAPTOP MODEMS:
http://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2011/03/4g_speed_test_chart1x-5152347.jpg

However, all is not lost - Verizon rolled out their first 4G LTE smartphone last week - http://phones.verizonwireless.com/htc/thunderbolt/

Matt
03-20-2011, 03:29 PM
SKG4B7wFJUo

Thunder
03-20-2011, 04:17 PM
Matt, that video was a whole fail. I kept waiting for that girl to get on her bike and zip off while the guys topple over.

Matt
03-20-2011, 06:44 PM
Any ad that has a girl like her in an outfit like that can't be a total failure.

Thunder
03-20-2011, 06:45 PM
Any ad that has a girl like her in an outfit like that can't be a total failure.

You naughty boy, you!

bluedogok
03-20-2011, 06:50 PM
I've been with AT&T for 7 years, have always received great service and no problems.
I guess that you would be one of the few, I did have much better service in OKC before I moved to Austin but since then it has been bad in both places. After 11 years with SWBMS/Cingular/AT&T I switched in December to Verizon. I just couldn't put up with the crappy AT&T service anymore. For a long time I had to go outside the house to get a decent connection and even then at times it was bad. I am only about 5 miles south of Downtown Austin in an area built out in the mid-70's, not a brand new development or out in the boonies. It hardly worked in my office as well, you have to go to the east end of our space to get a halfway decent signal, that isn't the case with my new Verizon phone.

Both my parents and my sister have T-Mobile, so it will be affecting them and they aren't too happy about it.

OKCDrummer77
03-20-2011, 08:22 PM
How does this affect those of us who are under contract? Technically, our contract is with T-Mobile, not AT&T. Will AT&T pick up the contracts and require that we honor the terms, or will there be an escape option for those who might want to jump ship?

Easy180
03-20-2011, 08:36 PM
Me likey

AT&T said its customers would benefit from the cell towers and wireless spectrum the deal would bring. In some areas, it would add 30 percent more capacity, AT&T said.

"It obviously will have a significant impact in terms of dropped calls and network performance," Stephenson said.

ljbab728
03-20-2011, 10:09 PM
I guess that you would be one of the few, I did have much better service in OKC before I moved to Austin but since then it has been bad in both places. After 11 years with SWBMS/Cingular/AT&T I switched in December to Verizon. I just couldn't put up with the crappy AT&T service anymore. For a long time I had to go outside the house to get a decent connection and even then at times it was bad. I am only about 5 miles south of Downtown Austin in an area built out in the mid-70's, not a brand new development or out in the boonies. It hardly worked in my office as well, you have to go to the east end of our space to get a halfway decent signal, that isn't the case with my new Verizon phone.

Both my parents and my sister have T-Mobile, so it will be affecting them and they aren't too happy about it.

I guess I'm one of the few also. I've never had anything but AT&T and never had a problem.

Stew
03-20-2011, 10:24 PM
I too am one of the few. I've had cingular/AT&T for years and never had a problem. I had voicestream/t-mobile for a couple of years which ended up in a billing dispute that took me a year to get off my credit report. This buy-out kind of tickles me. DIE T-Mobile DIE.

Snowman
03-20-2011, 10:39 PM
How does this affect those of us who are under contract? Technically, our contract is with T-Mobile, not AT&T. Will AT&T pick up the contracts and require that we honor the terms, or will there be an escape option for those who might want to jump ship?

Coin flip, a lot of times they honor terms as long as you keep paying but stop offering new people to get the same plan, no guaranties though.

HewenttoJared
03-21-2011, 05:42 AM
This would explain Apple's complete lack of interest in T-Mobile.

On the question of who this hurts I can say that I sell all three, and there are horror stories from every single carrier. T-Mobile has always had a sort of naïveté about how to draw and keep customers, but i don't think they treat them especially worse or better around here. I'm very interested in what AT&T will do about the existing T-Mobile "4G" upgraded towers and the rollout of AT&T's similar but not entirely the same programs.

Thunder
03-21-2011, 06:03 AM
When Sprint was advertising their new 4G coverage, there was a quote they said, "Not now, not ever," talking about AT&T will never have 4G. :-O

bombermwc
03-21-2011, 07:07 AM
Depends on what "4G" is...it's not really a standard like 3G was. You can call 4G whatever you want but it doesn't mean the various 4G's are equal.

OkieHornet
03-21-2011, 08:16 AM
I guess I'm one of the few also. I've never had anything but AT&T and never had a problem.

ditto. been with them through swbell/cingular/at&t. but i'm also still using a motorola razr and just use it for phonecalls and about a hundred or so texts a month.

Kerry
03-21-2011, 12:26 PM
http://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2011/03/4g_speed_test_chart2x-5152351.jpg

I just ran the SpeedTest app on my Sprint EVO 4G:

Upload:2.9 Mbps
Download: 0.549 Mbps

Those tests shown above must be before 4G (atleast for Sprint)

jn1780
03-21-2011, 12:32 PM
Matt, that video was a whole fail. I kept waiting for that girl to get on her bike and zip off while the guys topple over.

I guess AT&T guy can buy off T-Mobile girl using the money that iPhone guy provided. LOL

jn1780
03-21-2011, 01:02 PM
Depends on what "4G" is...it's not really a standard like 3G was. You can call 4G whatever you want but it doesn't mean the various 4G's are equal.

I think industry experts say what marketing is calling "4G" is more like a transitional generation.

This is what will eventually become the 4G standard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_Advanced

cameron_405
03-21-2011, 01:21 PM
How does this affect those of us who are under contract? Technically, our contract is with T-Mobile, not AT&T. Will AT&T pick up the contracts and require that we honor the terms, or will there be an escape option for those who might want to jump ship?

...only time will tell, but there will be subscribers forced to find new service. In order for the government to approve the Alltel buyout by Verizon, VZ was required to divest certain assets and markets (which ATT scooped-up on the cheap). Verizon lost 15% of its base for that transaction. The ATT/T-Mobile deal will also incur scrutiny by the government, and will also involve concessions.

Hey Mike, what do you think is in store for Sprint now? They own a 54% stake in Clearwire -- seems to be a logical buyout candidate to me. [wouldn't it be a kicker if VZ made a bid for S?]

Kerry
03-21-2011, 02:05 PM
I don't think the government would let Verizon, ATT, or Sprint buy each other.

Thunder
03-21-2011, 08:26 PM
I don't think the government would let Verizon, ATT, or Sprint buy each other.

I don't think the government have a say in this?

bluedogok
03-21-2011, 08:52 PM
I don't think the government have a say in this?
This and all other mergers of this magnitude are all subject to anti-trust laws and review by the Federal Trade Commission. Verizon went through it with the Alltel acquisition and Whole Foods went through it when they acquired Wild Oats, both had to divest themselves of some assets to satisfy the FTC.

MikeOKC
03-21-2011, 08:59 PM
I don't think the government have a say in this?

http://www.ftc.gov/bc/index.shtml

HewenttoJared
03-22-2011, 10:22 AM
When Sprint was advertising their new 4G coverage, there was a quote they said, "Not now, not ever," talking about AT&T will never have 4G. :-O

Nobody in the US has real 4G.

Thunder
03-22-2011, 10:30 AM
Nobody in the US has real 4G.

Incorrect. Only some areas do have it.

HewenttoJared
03-22-2011, 01:54 PM
LTEA is the first in-county tech that might actually hit the international benchmark for 4G(100 MBPS). We'll see if it actually hits it in 2012.

UnFrSaKn
03-22-2011, 04:57 PM
Verizon says 4G LTE network will cover 'at least' 147 US cities by the end of 2011 (http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/22/verizon-says-4g-lte-network-will-cover-at-least-147-us-cities-by-the-e/)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/verizon-4glte-03-22-2011.jpg

OKC and Tulsa by the end of this year.

FYI, for those of you who got the iPad 2, it won't even work on 4G. There's always the iPad 3..and so on..

MikeOKC
03-22-2011, 05:09 PM
LTEA is the first in-county tech that might actually hit the international benchmark for 4G(100 MBPS). We'll see if it actually hits it in 2012.

The Verizon 4G LTE is already available - as a data only plan - in Oklahoma City. We're a rollout city and it just requires a USB modem plugged into your laptop and you get incredible speeds.

PC Magazine said this:


"Verizon promises 5-12Mbps down and 2-5Mbps up. Considering the carrier's 3G EVDO system offers 1Mbps down on average, that's a huge improvement. It's faster than some home connections."

"I was able to achieve blazing fast speeds before the network officially launched, but now that it's actually being used, speeds have settled down into Verizon's stated range. On Ookla's speed test, which simulates streaming, I got peak speeds of 18.6Mbps down and 5.7Mbps up on the LTE network, with averages of 9.2Mbps down and 3.4Mbps up. In years of testing cellular networks, I've never seen results as fast as I saw with LTE."

Verizon 4G LTE Data Network (http://network4g.verizonwireless.com)

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/7841/90247209.jpg

I just plugged in a random OKC address. I knew it was available - but just wanted to show you.

HewenttoJared
03-23-2011, 07:12 AM
LTE-Advanced is a whole different animal though. It's going to brush the 100mbps standard. Current LTE rollout doesn't hit 1/3rd that much.

I sell all of this stuff, or at least the people who work for me do. The fastest I saw from an air card was 28.

Kerry
03-25-2011, 09:10 AM
I saw a commercial last night for T-Mobile slamming how bad ATT was. Pretty funny stuff. You think they might want to pull those kinds of ads. However, I suspect ATT wants the T-mobile 4G network and not the customers as I get the sense that most T-mobile customers don't like ATT anyhow.

HewenttoJared
03-25-2011, 11:28 AM
No, they're actually abandoning tmobile's existing "4G". They want the customer share.

Kerry
03-25-2011, 11:32 AM
No, they're actually abandoning tmobile's existing "4G". They want the customer share.

From what I read 2 days ago, they are taking all of T-mobile's 3G towers and converting them to T-mobile's 4G, which is why all T-mobile customers with a 3G phone will have to get new 4G phones. Nearly every commerical I have seen for T-mobile they are slamming ATT for one reason or another. Bashing ATT seems to appeal to their current customer base and potential customer base. I know two T-mobile customers and both said they used to have ATT and won't go back. I have Sprint so I don't care either way. In fact, I also have Clear so I hope Sprint and Clear merge.

Jersey Boss
03-25-2011, 02:21 PM
Apparently the deal must also be approved by the FCC as well. This article says it will be an uphill climb. http://www.betanews.com/article/ATT-deal-to-acquire-TMobile-may-find-FCC-approval-difficult/1301078882