03-20-2011, 02:57 PM

AT&T Agrees to Buy Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telecom as in...T-Mobile.....

(Maybe this should be in "Anything goes" instead....)

03-20-2011, 03:11 PM

i just got done reading that article!

Hopefully this means att will gain better physical (geographical) 3G coverage because I wouldn't mind having a fast data network than my .24 MB/s download speed from Verizon.

03-20-2011, 04:07 PM

Considering they use different spectrum for 3G, it won't improve anything there.

This is a sad day. The only one of the "big 4" carriers to ever do anything pro-consumer is done.

03-20-2011, 04:08 PM

If so, since I honestly don't know much about cellphone networks, why would they even acquire them? Other than their consumer base....

03-20-2011, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by ThePope43

Other than their consumer base....

I'm sure there's some valuable spectrum, but this is almost certainly 100% about customer base. AT&T has more spectrum than they're using right now so they don't really need what T-Mo has.

03-20-2011, 04:11 PM

Future competitive pricing down the drain, if T-Mobile were to get the iPhone... and had this not happened.

03-20-2011, 05:02 PM

Interesting. T Mobile have the iPhone here in the UK, but they have shocking customer service and add stuff to your bill too.

03-20-2011, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by baggss

AT&T Agrees to Buy Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telecom as in...T-Mobile…..

Just to clarify: they're only buying Deutsche Telekom's US unit.

Originally Posted by schweb

This is a sad day. The only one of the "big 4" carriers to ever do anything pro-consumer is done.

Over here in germany, where T-Mobile is the ex-state-monopoly and still the dominant carrier, it's exactly reversed: T-mobile overcharges, has terrible customer support and has been losing subscribers to its smaller, pro-consumer competitors for years.

The only reason you would choose t-mobile here is because of the slightly better network coverage or because they had the iPhone exclusively for a few years. Thankfully, it became available on all carriers last year.

But thought it was worth throwing out there: T-Mobile USA may have been customer friendly, but only because they had to be.

It's an odd move though: as schweb pointed out, the frequency issue means AT & T won't improve their coverage, so I'm wondering what the play is here. Will they keep the t-mob brand? I suppose they'll have to, otherwise how would they explain that some AT&T customers (on the ex-Tmobile network) can't get the iPhone, while others can?

03-20-2011, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by Aptmunich

It's an odd move though: as schweb pointed out, the frequency issue means AT & T won't improve their coverage, so I'm wondering what the play is here. Will they keep the t-mob brand? I suppose they'll have to, otherwise how would they explain that some AT&T customers (on the ex-Tmobile network) can't get the iPhone, while others can?

Easy. When it's time to upgrade they just sell you an AT&T iPhone. AT&T could also work with Apple to have all future AT&T iPhones work in both data bands and take advantage of T-Mos existing 3G network as well as AT&Ts. Since they will now own T-Mos spectrum they can upgrade the AT&T network to work on those freqs as well. After all, you could always unlock an AT&T iPhone and move it to T-Mo in the US, it was only the 3G data that was the issue. This might also give AT&T a further jump on 4G since T-Mo has been advertising it for some time now.

Sure makes those T-Mo commercials mocking AT&T look funny now though.

03-20-2011, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by baggss

...Sure makes those T-Mo commercials mocking AT&T look funny now though.

lol I had to go back and look at a few with the chick in the dress. It's just like Verizon mocking the iPhone being "all pretty" and then they get the iPhone lol

03-20-2011, 06:36 PM

The funny thing is that about 8 years or so ago, there was talk of DT buying AT&T (the real one, not today's at&t) but that was stopped by US rules on foreign ownership of US telcos.

Sad really, can't imagine DT would be any worse as an owner of AT&T than SBC turned out to be.

03-20-2011, 07:26 PM

T-Mobile gets the iPhone, Apple gets fast new HSPA+ network
AppleInsider | T-Mobile gets the iPhone, Apple gets fast new HSPA+ network

AT&T's $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom will not only create America's largest mobile carrier but also the largest US iPhone carrier by adding 33.7 million T-Mobile subscribers to AT&T's network of about 95.5 million, creating a total of about 130 million users on a network with ultra fast HSPA+ coverage.

03-21-2011, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by the8thark

T-Mobile gets the iPhone, Apple gets fast new HSPA+ network
AppleInsider | T-Mobile gets the iPhone, Apple gets fast new HSPA+ network

HA! Beat you to it.....!

Lots of speculation in that Apple Insider article too...

03-21-2011, 12:55 AM

Wonderful. Now even less competition, and less incentives for any of the now 3 companies to offer better pricing schemes. Would this not insinuate that ATT will now have a virtual monopoly in the US GSM market ? How can that be a good thing for anybody ?

Or maybe I just don't know bupkis about this business and should zip my flapper.

Doug

03-21-2011, 12:58 AM

1877 - 1984 Ma Bell reigns... 2011 - ? Ma Bell reigns again. You can't stop a determined woman.