AT&T buys out T-mobile today. $39 billion. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/03/20/att.t.mobile/?hpt=Sbin
We’ll see if this one stands up when the government reviews it. If it does, good chance to jump in on a decent network at T-mobile pricing now… Probably means higher pricing for the whole industry if/when it closes. Hopefully they integrate the networks fully to improve service, I’m not crazy about 40 million poor people with Sidekicks getting dumped on my network.
If it goes through, wouldn’t be surprised to see VZW make a move for sprint.
If I wasn’t already grandfathered in on something better I would be signing up for a Tmo plan as soon as the DOJ says it’s a go. They technically don’t have to honor it once your contract is up, but there are still people out there floating around on Blue plans from back in the day so the past says they will.
39.99 1000 min family plan, with 3 9.99 add a lines. Free N&W and M2M, $30 group unlimited text, 9.99 per line unlimited smartphone data. Only thing that sucks is it’s an old SuperHome plan so the home calling area is just the east coast, but I just use VOIP when I go out West. (Data is nationwide)
Interested to see how this plays out. You looking at this in any trade-ability Joe? Sprint is cheap but their fundamentals seem busted to me. Then again seems all the carriers hold little cash and an assload of long term debt.
Adding more customers but more network too. AT&T needs a 4g LTE network to compete with Verizon, and this instantly gives them just that while eliminating a competitor who has really been going after them in advertisements.
I can’t find any subscriber info, but hasn’t T-mobile been losing subscribers left and right for multiple quarters? I understand the purchase but it’s not like T-mobile was a big threat.
vzw buying sprint would be a disaster, sprint is the only mainstream carrier with sane unlimited pricing.
I’ve been waiting for vzw to match it. 99.99 + tax and insurance is ridiculous.
tmobile was renting at+ts towers, correct? so basically, if at+t takes over tmobile completely, the only difference is going to be phones and improved customer service?
Tmobile has the worse customer service I’ve ever experienced. EVER. I don’t see how this is a bad move.
I’ve had the opposite experience Karter. T-Mobile has been excellent to me when I needed support or to explain billing issues etc…
At&t on the other hand…or should I say Cingular because it’s been awhile…they were assholes to me every time. They also gave mis-information multiple times and refused to correct billing issues despite me having an in with their account rep for Ingram.
So far no complaints about Sprint here…no billing surprises and the data is quick enough for me (though I’m waiting for 4g )
I just switched my plan to “Even More Ulimited Talk + Text (Nationwide)” plus “dumb phone” unlimited data (which still works for smart phones) for a total of $80 per month.
I had an old 3000 minute plan, but it was only for the north-east. And my unlimited data was only $2 or $3, lol. But I wanted to jump in on the last TRUE unlimited plans before they started capping, etc. like AT&T or Verizon.
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Granted I’ve been with them longer than they’ve been with me (former VoiceStream customer) but I’ve called them countless times over the years and had them take cash off my bill.
I called them a few months ago and they took off $150 from my bill because I had just switched my data plan and didn’t know data was no longer free for me in Canada. Woops!
"To keep word of the deal from leaking, the AT&T team devised a complicated list of code names, known as “Project Auto.” AT&T was called “Tesla”; Deutsche Telekom was “Daimler” and T-Mobile was “Mercury.” When asked why T-Mobile was named Mercury - not exactly known for high-performance vehicles - Randall Stephenson, the chief executive of AT&T, chuckled: “We needed an ‘M.’ Nothing more.”
they refused to let me out of a contract with no service at my house. I was on the phone with the guy for like an hour, he was a huge douchebag.
I called again got someone else, same result. Money hungry, wanted the 250 to shut off a phone that didnt work where it was supposed too.
Never again. Loved my sidekick3 tho, just not the crappy service, poor phone company.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this pans out with the Feds - in the end, if it goes through, AT&T-Mobile/Verizon will have more than 80% of the market. As it stands, Sprint/Nextel will wind up being a distant also-ran in the market, about 1/3 the size of AT&T-Mobile alone.
In any case, I smell “price increase” with the lower competition.
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