US blocks AT&T and T-Mobile deal

US blocks AT&T and T-Mobile deal

The combined mobile phone company would have knocked Verizon Wireless off the top spot in the US.

Great move! It was kind of obvious that something like this would happen, but I was still hoping that AT&T would get kicked for it. I just hope that everything goes through with the blocking.

I agree. We use T-Mobile and have three phones on the account. Generally their prices are below what AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint charge for the same usage and allotted calling minutes.

I wasn't happy about the Ma Bell - T-Mobile buyout at all.

If anything, we need more mobile phone carriers in the U.S. Increase competition, lower prices, (and in a perfect world, eliminate contracts). Hey, a guy can dream.

MYmacROX said:

If anything, we need more mobile phone carriers in the U.S. Increase competition, lower prices, (and in a perfect world, eliminate contracts). Hey, a guy can dream.

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Im right there with you on this one ^ however contracts being a thing of the past should be going on now.

sjwilson3821 said:

Im right there with you on this one ^ however contracts being a thing of the past should be going on now.

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From my little experience, as well as others' vast experiences, contract services actually tend to provide the best customer experience/coverage. And because companies don't have a guaranteed source of income from no-contract services, they are slow to better their service.

idrinorbarsaku said:

From my little experience, as well as others' vast experiences, contract services actually tend to provide the best customer experience/coverage. And because companies don't have a guaranteed source of income from no-contract services, they are slow to better their service.

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This most definitely is NOT true when talking about service outside of the U.S. In fact, I have never had better service and coverage than when I was living in EU with my Jailbroken and unlocked iPhone. People there have several phones because it's so cheap to do so. One for work, one for family, and one for each girlfriend! (I'm not even kidding)

Granted, most of us don't want to carry several phones, but I'm merely pointing out the fact that the plans and prices are so convenient... everybody is happy, including the telco's.

Doug

Doug b said:

This most definitely is NOT true when talking about service outside of the U.S. In fact, I have never had better service and coverage than when I was living in EU with my Jailbroken and unlocked iPhone. People there have several phones because it's so cheap to do so. One for work, one for family, and one for each girlfriend! (I'm not even kidding)

Granted, most of us don't want to carry several phones, but I'm merely pointing out the fact that the plans and prices are so convenient... everybody is happy, including the telco's.

Doug

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I don't know about outside the US. I'm talking about the services offered here by companies who only do no-contract plans. With current here in the US, the service is not the best, but is a trade of for usually cheaper prices, as well as not having a contract.

Its official, Im moving to the UK. This was the final straw. They have everything over there. lol

idrinorbarsaku said:

From my little experience, as well as others' vast experiences, contract services actually tend to provide the best customer experience/coverage. And because companies don't have a guaranteed source of income from no-contract services, they are slow to better their service.

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Oh? I must respectfully disagree. I only deal with contracts because thats how to get the phone but every single time Ive gotten one the company has found some way to mess me up. Im tired of contracts and if I could get the iPhone with perfect service on something like Cricket or BootstMobile Id leave in a minute. And this is for all of them, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Ive been to all of them. Sure, customer service is great right up until you have a problem with the phone. Then youre basically stuck because youre in the contract. They keep trying to send refurbished phones or use methods that everyone knows wont work over the phone to troubleshoot, but how dare you even ask for a new one. Whether it be your own phone or even if youre willing to foot the bill for a new one, unless youre paying full price of over $500 forget it. And what person would pay over $500 for a phone over and over again whenever something goes wrong? Things go wrong too darn often on phones nowadays to even justify such a thing. If they worked right and actually lasted itd make more sense but some people are having troubles making some phones last a year. For the money people pay, contract or not, that should be downright unacceptable. And this new thing about 2 year contract or Pay As You Go? Thats just ridiculous.

IMHO they need to make both phones and plans more affordable and ditch contracts altogether. Either that, or give people new phones when problems arise. Sure, go on and trouble shoot. When that doesnt work you should get a new phone and not that refurbished crap.

NVash said:

Oh? I must respectfully disagree. I only deal with contracts because thats how to get the phone but every single time Ive gotten one the company has found some way to mess me up. Im tired of contracts and if I could get the iPhone with perfect service on something like Cricket or BootstMobile Id leave in a minute. And this is for all of them, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Ive been to all of them. Sure, customer service is great right up until you have a problem with the phone. Then youre basically stuck because youre in the contract. They keep trying to send refurbished phones or use methods that everyone knows wont work over the phone to troubleshoot, but how dare you even ask for a new one. Whether it be your own phone or even if youre willing to foot the bill for a new one, unless youre paying full price of over $500 forget it. And what person would pay over $500 for a phone over and over again whenever something goes wrong? Things go wrong too darn often on phones nowadays to even justify such a thing. If they worked right and actually lasted itd make more sense but some people are having troubles making some phones last a year. For the money people pay, contract or not, that should be downright unacceptable. And this new thing about 2 year contract or Pay As You Go? Thats just ridiculous.

IMHO they need to make both phones and plans more affordable and ditch contracts altogether. Either that, or give people new phones when problems arise. Sure, go on and trouble shoot. When that doesnt work you should get a new phone and not that refurbished crap.

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I got a free blackberry with contract renewal with sprint. Needless to say my blackberry is nearly dead and always shuts down for no apparent reason. I also still have another year left of the contract. Anyways I dont think I should have to insure a phone when I pay for a service. They should just replace it instead of trying to get me to buy a new one only for it to also break. I mean if I purchase a router and modem from my isp and it goes out or breaks they will send a IT and they will replace it for free. Why cant my phone service be that way?

Exactly my point. And with most if not all places insurance is a joke. If they told me from the get-go that with insurance I would still have half the problems I did and do I doubt Id spend the extra money each month. But, of course, they never tell anyone that.

If Im paying for insurance its only logical that I get a perfectly new phone when mine decides to stop working. It makes sense. Im not paying for some refurbished mess. You can sell that to someone on the site who might want it but I am not interested. I should get this phone for free as well. If I have to pay for it why am I paying for insurance? Insurance is $6-10 each month and for a 2 year plan that could almost equal $240. Thats basically $240 out the window for nothing, saying I have no problems. Of course that has yet to happen but how many people actually manage to pull off getting a new one? They end up with a bunch of refurbished phones. Now if I refused insurance in the beginning then sure, charge me a lump sum for this new phone. If you want, give me an option. Im curious to see just how many would pick 'Refurbished' over 'Brand New'. But once you call customer service they try just about everything they can to get you a refurbished phone. Its a shame.

NVash said:

Oh? I must respectfully disagree.

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You said you disagreed, but automatically assumed that contract free plans/phones are better without using them?

sjwilson3821 said:

I mean if I purchase a router and modem from my isp and it goes out or breaks they will send a IT and they will replace it for free. Why cant my phone service be that way?

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First, that IT serviceman will only come up to fix it until the warranty runs out. Happened to me a few months ago with ATT! Second, everything breaks. If are worried about stuff breaking, why complain about the contract when you should be complaining about the actual device that broke? It's not the contract's fault, and no one forced you to sign it.

NVash said:

Exactly my point. And with most if not all places insurance is a joke. If they told me from the get-go that with insurance I would still have half the problems I did and do I doubt Id spend the extra money each month. But, of course, they never tell anyone that.

If Im paying for insurance its only logical that I get a perfectly new phone when mine decides to stop working. It makes sense. Im not paying for some refurbished mess.

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Cell phone insurances state whether or not a new claim will provide a refurb or a new model. This is because most phones end production within someone's contract period, meaning there will be no new phone to give to you. No one forces you to do it. So what's the fuss about again? We get many foreign phone users who go month-to-month(no contract)(through ATT sims). Do you know the price of phones for those who go month-to-month? You wouldn't have the phone you have right now if it wasn't for your contract, or you would either save up a while for it, or charge it. The majority of those who come through are rich, so they go for unlocked iphones/bb/and other sim smartphones, but the majority of phones out now that are worth spending money on, cost a lot! No-contract plans are of no benefit to people who stay put with their service. If you know you aren't going to change locations, plans, phones(as easily), its not of much benefit other than peace of mind. And also, a little fact from last year, the majority of cell phone owners in North America keep their phones between 17-27 months depending on brand. In Europe, it was about 13 months. In Japan, it was 8 months.

No-contract plans have their benefit, but I believe the majority of people fall into their hype, and like them for the wrong reasons. Keep in mind, some folks on here talk about no-contract's benefits as if they live in Europe, when they actually live in the US. It's not the same, nor do these little(relative to current companies) companies have the same substantial coverage as known contract-free carriers in Europe/Asia.

Historical perspective on this:

10 Competition by many for resources and to control & profit from them
20 Winners rise to top and consolidate distribution controls; losers die off; leaves a minority controlling a majority
30 Constructs are put in place by the majority via social compact to regulate the minority's behavior relating to distribution
40 Social compact collapses; winners are killed by their "subjects" and their resources repatriated in some manner
50 Mayhem, disagreement over redistribution of resources by the majority, fighting for the scraps of the old system and other fun
60 GOTO 10

NVash said:

Things go wrong too darn often on phones nowadays to even justify such a thing. If they worked right and actually lasted itd make more sense but some people are having troubles making some phones last a year.

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NVash said:

Exactly my point. And with most if not all places insurance is a joke. If they told me from the get-go that with insurance I would still have half the problems I did and do I doubt Id spend the extra money each month. But, of course, they never tell anyone that.

<Much ranting and silliness deleted>

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I have to disagree with you there. The iPhones is a $500 phone but people, and I will lump you in this group as well, treat it like it's a toy. It's not. Seems most people don't have the ability to take care of their things and then expect someone to come to their rescue when they goon up their technology. Take care of your technology and it will take care of you. It's called responsability, learn it.

For my part, I've always been hard of cell phones until I got my iPhone 3G. First phone that lasted me beyond the contract period. My iPhone 4 had an issue with the home button not working after 8 months of use. Took it to Apple and walked out with a brand new phone at zero cost to me. Yes, I purchased Apple care, but that didn't matter. In and out in 10 minutes with a new phone in hand.

My recommendation to you: Grow up.

Wow, you took apart my rant like that? That wasnt right nor was your lumping me into that group. I always take care of my stuff as well. Sometimes no matter how much you take care of things they break. Thats a fact of life. Nothing lasts forever. The thing is that Im talking about phones in general and youre talking about an iPhone. Now thats great that you got a new one, Im glad to hear it and I already intended to switch over to that once the new one comes out. However many people dont luck out like that. They go through all sorts of ridiculous hoops until they either give up and settle with a refurbished one or they finally get a new phone. All Im saying is that it should be that whenever problems arise with phones, and Im going to say problems in general because if we say 'from normal wear and tear' they can always get very crazy on that and decide that 'normal wear and tear' isnt normal at all, people should first trouble shoot and then, if that doesnt work, give them a new phone. Thats all Im saying.

NVash said:

Wow, you took apart my rant like that? That wasnt right nor was your lumping me into that group. I always take care of my stuff as well. Sometimes no matter how much you take care of things they break. Thats a fact of life. Nothing lasts forever. The thing is that Im talking about phones in general and youre talking about an iPhone. Now thats great that you got a new one, Im glad to hear it and I already intended to switch over to that once the new one comes out. However many people dont luck out like that. They go through all sorts of ridiculous hoops until they either give up and settle with a refurbished one or they finally get a new phone. All Im saying is that it should be that whenever problems arise with phones, and Im going to say problems in general because if we say 'from normal wear and tear' they can always get very crazy on that and decide that 'normal wear and tear' isnt normal at all, people should first trouble shoot and then, if that doesnt work, give them a new phone. Thats all Im saying.

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I'm sorry. I didn't realize you didn't want comments on your rant. Wait, no i'm not.

I have pretty much learned that those who have to "jump through hoops" to get a company to honor a warranty, and this is also a generalization, are generally not being honest about what is really going on with the product in question. I've gone through several generations of phones in the last 20 years and all of them, to a phone, have only had problems when I did stupid things to them. I will conceded that there are some cheap crap phones out there, but they are not $500+. You pay $60 for a phone that costs $5 to make, you are only getting what you pay for. Expecting a brand new phone in those cases is pretty silly IMO.

Expecting a phone to be replaced because of "normal wear and tear" is not particularly reasonable and leads back to my comments about taking care of ones things. There is a reason it's called "normal wear and tear". Dropping your phone in the parking lot and smashing the screen isn't "normal wear and tear" when cases abound to protect your investment. Neither is dropping your phone in the toilet. Both are simply the result of carelessness.

XJ-linux said:

Historical perspective on this:

10 Competition by many for resources and to control & profit from them
20 Winners rise to top and consolidate distribution controls; losers die off; leaves a minority controlling a majority
30 Constructs are put in place by the majority via social compact to regulate the minority's behavior relating to distribution
40 Social compact collapses; winners are killed by their "subjects" and their resources repatriated in some manner
50 Mayhem, disagreement over redistribution of resources by the majority, fighting for the scraps of the old system and other fun
60 GOTO 10

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THAT!

baggss said:

I've always been hard of cell phones until I got my iPhone 3G. First phone that lasted me beyond the contract period. My iPhone 4 had an issue with the home button not working after 8 months of use. Took it to Apple and walked out with a brand new phone at zero cost to me.

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Ditto x2. I was in warranty with my HTC MDA and they still denied my coverage for something that wasn't my fault at all, because they believed to have been caused by "damage" from misuses(they assumed this because of the $#!#& paint had rubbed off.

**** this argument keeps going in circles. lol

baggss said:

I'm sorry. I didn't realize you didn't want comments on your rant. Wait, no i'm not.

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Im not even going to bother wasting my time arguing. We can agree to disagree here.

I see where youre coming from and true enough, some people destroy their stuff without a care in the World. Some people end up with phones that dont work too. Dont think that just because it has a $500 price tag its a great phone. Thats a serious mistake sir. I know of more than a few phones that came out costing a ton of money but are still huge piles of junk. I know one thats quite old, is known to be a piece of junk and is still expensive. The old adage 'You get what you pay for' is kinda out the window these days. I know people besides myself who have problems with phones who also take care of their things. You seem to have lucked out and thats great for you but this generalization isnt going to work when youre talking to someone whos seen the side that you clearly have no idea about. Dont try to come at myself or anyone elses throat, as the phrase is, with some junk about not taking care of our stuff. You dont know me, you dont know them. That may be true for the majority, we arent the majority. There are exceptions.

idrinorbarsaku said:

Ditto x2. I was in warranty with my HTC MDA and they still denied my coverage for something that wasn't my fault at all, because they believed to have been caused by "damage" from misuses(they assumed this because of the $#!#& paint had rubbed off.

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Im confused. Youre agreeing with what was said but yet you didnt get a phone and are angry? Am I missing something here?