It has not been approved yet, and it may not be approved for a while by regulators.
If it goes through, you are still going to be using T-Mobile's network assets. This is a strategic move to allow them to get more hot new phones and negotiate better with device manufacturers. Impact on coverage etc can only benefit.
Even as a demandy nerd customer, I've never had a single issue and I've been with AT&T for 8 years (starting with Cingular). Customer service has been fine, speed has been fine. Yes, I've used other carriers too. Difference is not noticeable on 3g or other pre-4g standards. But that was just my experience...so it doesn't matter
This maneuver is not likely to face significant anti-trust scrutiny. Sprint has its own 4G with WiMAX, Verizon has LTE, T-Mo was bleeding customers and it resolves the looming spectrum crunch wherein the next-gen wireless spectra was spread too thin.
Thrax beat me to it. This is inevitable in the wireless market. Probably one of the few cases where having one less player will likely benefit consumers.
All I know is that if T-Mobiles customer service gets folded into AT&Ts customer service, they'll be losing this customer at least. I've had to deal with AT&Ts customer service before and it sucks. I'll go back to Verizon (whom I vowed never to go back to at one point because their sales and service people lied to me multiple times years back) before I willfully subject myself to AT&Ts terrible service.
One thing that this leads me to wonder is if you are a T-Mobile customer, will you be legally free to cancel your service without a fee? I remember that was a debate when Cingular became AT&T and I can't recall what happened there?
NEW YORK – AT&T says that if its deal to buy T-Mobile USA goes through, T-Mobile subscribers with "3G" phones will need to replace those to keep their wireless broadband service working.
AT&T Inc. on Sunday said it had agreed to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. If approved by regulators, the deal would close about a year from now.
AT&T said Monday that it in the year after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile's cell towers work. The spectrum they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be repurposed for 4G, which is faster.
That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T's 3G frequencies. AT&T said it had factored the cost of replacement phones into the total cost of the acquisition.
I heard a great piece on Marketplace yesterday about this, detailing all the ways in which this deal will stifle innovation and raise prices in the mobile marketplace.
primesuspect
Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
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Bobby just massacred the newest posts thing.
If it goes through, you are still going to be using T-Mobile's network assets. This is a strategic move to allow them to get more hot new phones and negotiate better with device manufacturers. Impact on coverage etc can only benefit.
Even as a demandy nerd customer, I've never had a single issue and I've been with AT&T for 8 years (starting with Cingular). Customer service has been fine, speed has been fine. Yes, I've used other carriers too. Difference is not noticeable on 3g or other pre-4g standards. But that was just my experience...so it doesn't matter
NEW YORK – AT&T says that if its deal to buy T-Mobile USA goes through, T-Mobile subscribers with "3G" phones will need to replace those to keep their wireless broadband service working.
AT&T Inc. on Sunday said it had agreed to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. If approved by regulators, the deal would close about a year from now.
AT&T said Monday that it in the year after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile's cell towers work. The spectrum they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be repurposed for 4G, which is faster.
That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T's 3G frequencies. AT&T said it had factored the cost of replacement phones into the total cost of the acquisition.
One Ringtone to rule them all, One Ringtone to find them,
One Ringtone to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/03/21/pm-atts-acquisition-of-tmobile-the-ripple-effects/