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AT&T To Acquire T-Mobile From Deutsche Telekom
teh31337one writes "AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in cash and stocks. Press release here." Gripes one anonymous reader: "Americans will have even less choice now when it comes to cell phone carriers. Say good-bye to the one that had the best customer service and was most friendly towards Android and rooting."
This is bad.
Less competition will lead to greater efficiencies and lower prices for consumers. Why are you all laughing? There's a first time for everything. And on this one, we're DUE!
SBC service and connectivity with T-Mobile handsets.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
The terrorists have definitely won.
As a former AT&T customer and a current T-Mobile customer, I am very disappointed by this. However, the deal is still a year away and subject to regulatory approval.Perhaps we can hope that the government makes a move to protect consumers for a change?
Douglas Whitaker
Are we ever going to break up AT&T?
I switched to T-Mobile strictly to get away from AT&T's bullshit yet stay with a GSM carrier! And I love T-Mobile's support as well, though AT&T's wasn't that bad to be honest.
This still stinks to no end though. And the worst part is, I can't take my N900 to any other US carrier, as only ATT/TMO is GSM here.
Fuck.
Well, clearly, there can be only one.
This sucks, IMNSHO.
Except that the two carriers use two different bands for 3g data and T-Mobile customers could already roam on AT&Ts network, but at edge only speeds.
This is bad. As a t-mobile customer I'm going to be awfully sad the day I have to give up my unlimited tethered internet. Sprint is looking like the only real option left and I really detest the $10 smartphone tax just on fucking principle.
The promise of unlimited wireless internet is looking bleaker and bleaker by the day.
zosxavius photography
The free market will save us!
Any minute now...
T-mobile at least had good sounding service and wasn't as sleazy with their business practices. I have enough AT&T stories to fill a book!
Haven't we learned ANYTHING about the size of companies lately? As they get bigger, they become less effective and less customer focused.
Have you ever seen ANY merger that benefited it's customers? Ever? Remember, in the USA, the customer is not the customer, the STOCKHOLDER is the customer. Why do we tolerate this garbage?
I gave up hope on the mobile industry in the US long ago. When T-Mobile and AT&T couldn't even use compatible frequencies for 3G, the hope of cross carrier compatibility died a long time ago. GSM is only great when you can buy an unlocked phone, choose a provider and pop in a SIM, then change on a whim while paying lower monthly prices due to the lack of a subsidy. This is one of the many benefits Europeans enjoy, along with good roaming agreements to ensure they can make a call even if their own provider doesn't cover the area well. I still look back to 2004 when I had an unlocked Sony Ericsson phone from T-Mobile that I used in Europe for a bit. Bought a SIM in London, traveled into the Netherlands, around Germany and a bit into Switzerland. At one point, my phone saw 9 different providers it was willing to use for emergency calls, and 4 or so of those it was willing to roam on for everything else.
Since none of those benefits ever came to the US, I hold some hope in that this merger will bring some good. AT&T is pledging a bigger LTE rollout, including to rural parts of the US. This is desperately needed, as many rural areas have dial up and satellite based options only. Dialup is near unusable these days, and satellite adds too much latency, negating benefits from Web 2.0 based sites, and conferencing/communication software. Low caps also prevent rural users from taking advantage of services like Netflix.
So AT&T is going to drag down T-Mobile too! So so sad. What ever happened to protecting a brand name in a business. Is business changed that much over the years where the protection of a brand name is meaningless. The days of AT&T "Worldnet" evidently haven't evolved successfully enough as spoken by AT&T's current customers because the lack of quality service. This also speaks to the motivation for T-Mobile to willingly be bought out by AT&T. Again - so, so sad.
Yeah, service and pricing is definitely a concern, but what about the key question - will Carly Foulkes still continue to be featured in the T-mo ads?
One thing I love about T-Mobile is its billing. The rate is reasonable and there are no taxes and fees tacked on, really no surprises at all in that dept. Coverage is generally good.
I guess that's going to change, soon.
CDMA is your daddy now! :)
This is SO not what I was hoping would happen. I was hoping T-Mo USA would buy Clearwire for the spectrum and then upgrade all their stuff to LTE. *sigh*
I guess all we need at this point is for Verizon to buy Sprint and convert all the towers to LTE with that claimed 'software update'.
The pollyanna part of me wonders if AT&T adding T-Mo's towers to their network could solve their problems, but I'm not sure it was ever a coverage issue, was it?
We had been with Centennial Wireless for years, until they were bought out by a combination of AT and T and Verizon. Our region went to Verizon. Thus, as we have to be on a GSM network, we were faced with a choice between AT and T and T-mobile. We went with T-mobile, as AT and T are notoriously unreliable around these parts. T-mobile also offered a much better deal and great prices on great phones. However, if the AT and T and T-mobile deal goes through, we will have no alternatives. The reason we require being on a GSM network is because we travel quite a bit and most of the world (with the exception of the US and Japan) use GSM. Thus, when we travel, we can just change out sim cards and our phones continue to work. It is also the case that being on GSM enables us to get texts from all over the world. These are not options with CDMA and LTE networks. So, it sounds like this deal between AT and T and T-mobile will mean that AT and T will become a monopoly carrier for anyone who travels frequently outside the US. I wonder whether the FCC and the FTC will take this into consideration before they rubber stamp this deal to go through. Has anyone else had to face this conundrum and found a solution?
Stop trying to make this a religious argument from the comment
This is bad.
Go elsewhere please. We want intelligent or at least "semi-logical" trolling here.
I have been a loyal T-Mobile customer for 8 years, and I've NEVER regretted the move for a single second.
I pay $50 a month for nation-wide no roaming coverage, 500 texts, IM, international calling, 600 free anytime minutes and free nights and weekends. NOBODY has a deal as good as that for what you get. Not Verizon, not AT&T, not Sprint...nobody.
I loved that T-Mobile would sign contracts with "small fry" to extend their coverage to areas previously untouched. When I moved, my cellphone said "Sun-Com" for nearly 2 years, but I never paid a penny more. They finally put a T-M tower in my area, and service has been outstanding!
Now I have to move to the Death Star?
And be lied to, over-charged and spied upon?
Fuck you, AT&T.
Maybe I should go pre-paid.
[End Of Line]
Positives:
One could argue that smartphone handsets might be more "locked down" over time, but I never saw AT&T handsets being more locked down in any way than their T-Mo counterparts. They might throw more crapware in (can't believe I'm using that term for my phone), but as long as rooting exists, there will be ways of removing them.
While I'm making armchair predictions, Verizon will buy Sprint within the next two years. Sprint has been losing customers for a while now and their WiMAX technology isn't taking off fast enough. I hope the FCC does something to control the monopolies that will ensue when that happens. This should get interesting really quickly.
Americans will have even less choice now when it comes to cell phone carriers. Say good-bye to the one that had the best customer service and was most friendly towards Android and rooting.
All I can say is - at least it wasn't Verizon. I left them for T-Mobile a number of years ago, specifically because of bad customer support and absurd restrictions (such as not letting you use a phone's Bluetooth capabilities to upload your address book and calendar).
This definitely sucks, though.
#DeleteChrome
AT&T&T
Now Americans can look forward to a taste of the Canadian cellular telecom industry.
... all now you destroyed the cell industry for the rest of us.
Jesus? What has he ever done for me?
Sure. All you need is enough money to hire some professional networkers, buy the right of way to lay fiberoptic cables across at least a good part of one state, rent or buy land on which to place your cell stations, buy a licence to a block of spectrum from the FCC (Which alone will easily top a billion dollars - that spectrum is in very high demand) and then operate the whole expensive infrastructure until you have enough customers to break even. All while fending off every legal trick the incumbents have at their disposal to get in your way. How hard can it be?
Now we celebrate them! All hail the invisible hand!
Stand strong Sprint...stand strong
He committed suicide (then got better) to satisfy your end of a contract that you never agreed to.
Funny how T-Mobile is an underdog in the US and people seem to actually like them there (or hate them less than the competition). At home they're the ex-monopoly. They have the highest prices and the most civil-servant like customer service.
They must be a different company in the US or the telecommunications sector is abysmal in the US.
You know your telco industry is broken when Canadians are laughing at you.
So, do we get a new round of AT&T vs. T-Mobile commercials? Does the hot T-Mobile Girl start making out with the AT&T Guy?
Or do we see him trying to woo her?
Who get's to be on top? *giggles*
You're joking, right?
According to Consumer's Union, of the national carriers, T*Mobile only ranks ahead of AT&T.
My experience with TMobile backs up that score. My plan is with them because they're the least expensive. Their customer service is absolute pants.
And I... am Alan Partridge.
I had my phone stolen from a table at a resturant and a bus boy made hundreds of long distance calls to Mexico placed AFTER I had reported it stolen and asked for it to be de-activated. It took almost 1 year and getting the FCC involved to get T-Mobile off our backs and credit us back the money. And they still turned it over to collections and it took another 6 months to get the collections agencies to quit calling us on something that we didn't even owe. We switched to Cingular ( now AT&T ) and never looked back. Of course in Atlanta, we don't have the apparent problems AT&T have in other major cities.
GSM is only great when you can buy an unlocked phone, choose a provider and pop in a SIM, then change on a whim while paying lower monthly prices due to the lack of a subsidy.
T-Mobile will give you the code to unlock your phone on request for customers of 3 months or more (I believe).
ATT will not.
I don't want anyone to forget their illegal warrantless wiretapping and the massive lobbying effort get themselves retroactive immunity for their cooperation over the illegal spying on you.
why this would piss me off. I can understand temporary caps on wireless usage while the infrastructure is developed. Regressing to land lines where they don't even deliver the current product and stifle competition? Oh wait, they aren't just a communications provider anymore. They control content now.
We went with T-mobile, as AT and T are notoriously unreliable around these parts.
It's not like the T-Mobile towers will be taken down by a cackling AT&T. If you get good reception now, you should continue to get good reception as AT&T also starts using the local T-Mobile towers... in fact I see that as being the one bright spot here, that the GSM network towers across the country are combining and this should really help customers of both carriers get better reception (and AT&T customers get better service out of major cities as it seemed like T-Mobile had better coverage outside cities).
It is unfortunate that you'll probably be having to pay AT&T global roaming charges, they are I think pretty expensive (I've also travelled internationally). One solution I've read about recently is that you can buy something like a MiFi to be picked up at an airport abroad, that would give you data services with around 1GB of bandwidth which would be awesome for a trip.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I too left AT&T for T-Mobile because I got a great deal on my Blackberry. Truly unlimited internet and they don't mind if I tether. Lower prices too. I guess I can kiss all that goodbye.
Look at his comment history.....don't feed the troll......
zosxavius photography
Except that the two carriers use two different bands for 3g data and T-Mobile customers could already roam on AT&Ts network, but at edge only speeds.
Actually, you can only roam when you are in an area without native coverage. So if T-mobile serves your area (but with spotty coverage), and an AT&T tower gives you a better signal, you can't roam to the AT&T tower.
Virgin mobile is half that price, with unlimited internet for your smartphone and no contracts. I used to be a T-mobile customer until I realized it wasn't really that great of a deal. I've found sprint's network (which is what virgin uses) to have better coverage than T-mobile as well.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
T-Mobile USA is not part of T-Mobile International. Formerly Powertel, it was a separate acquisition of Deutsche Telekom and is not under the T-Mobile International umbrella.
That said, the mobile telecommunications sector in the US is pretty abysmal.
Being as T-Mobile's reception sucks massively in many parts of the country, this can only be an improvement in call duration and quality for existing T-Mobile customers. I am a T-Mobile customer currently and look forward to perhaps finally dropping less than half of my calls in an average week. Maybe if I'm really, really, lucky, I'll even get decent reception at my house (where they have claimed 3 bars for years).
Besides, T-Mobile has generally been a niche player in the US market in comparison to the number of customers on any other network.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
I, for one, am going to call 611 and let them know that I'm going to disconnect service the day the change-over occurs. I encourage you all to do the same.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
What twisted happiness you must get from incessantly trolling. Is there some loony bin you've escaped from? Please go to Digg or Reddit.
Thanks, the internet.
I carried a cell phone from about 1999 until about 2008. I did also briefly have a phone in 1994-1995, but it was for work.
In 2009, I pulled the plug, so to speak. My wife and I were with AT&T, and suddenly started seeing charges for $0.40 here and there, so I called to see what they were for.
"Those are for incoming text messages"
"But I don't want text messages, and I can't control who sends them to me"
"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't control it either. But, for $5/mo per phone, we can give you 200 texts per month and you should get charged anymore"
Right. So, first of all, they CAN control it. They simply choose not to, and it felt like just more extortion. So, fine. We paid the protection racket.
Then, we started seeing data charges. Out of nowhere. we hadn't even gotten new phones. So, again, I called 611 for the 411.
"It looks like browsing activity from the phones"
"But neither of us have browsed from our phones. Can't we just turn that functionality off on our accounts."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't disable the phone's web browser. That would be up to the phone's manufacturer, and we can't tell them what to put in their phones. But, for just $15/mo per phone, you can get unlimited data and won't risk getting charged anymore"
Right. Of course they can disable it. But, they choose not to. When all was said and done, their "protection" money would have been $60 (text and data) on top of our $50 plan.
$110 /mo? For phone service? In addition to another $30 in "taxes" and "government fees" which actually aren't.
Screw that. We dumped them and haven't carried cell phones since. We don't miss them. The constant interruptions. The constant worrying over hitting the wrong button in our pocket and racking up $10 in data charges. People bitching at us "why didn't you answer your cell phone?!?!" when "I didn't want to fucking talk to your annoying ass" is not a good enough answer.
I dumped a pre-paid phone in the glove box of each car for emergencies, and I carry one of our old GSM phones on bike rides for access to 911. That's it.
FUCK THE CELL PHONE CARRIERS RIGHT IN THE EAR. The "modern convenience" is not worth the hassle at all.
...and it's coming for you. 3:00
George Carlin
Me too. I loathe AT&T and avoided getting an iPhone for years because I didn't want to have an account with them. I wasn't crazy about T-mobile's signal strength at my house, but stuck with them because my phone bill was so low. I just bought a Nexus S last week and then this happens. I'm so unhappy. This is most definitely NOT going to improve either prices or service for communications in the United States.
The situation for Internet service to my home office is even worse. There is literally only ONE company that can provide a reasonable broadband speed to my home: Time Warner Cable. TW Cable has raised my bill twice in 3 years. This might not sound so bad if I lived in East Cow Butt, AR but I live in the middle of Los Angeles.
If you are less obvious in your trolling you will be more successful at it.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
The problem is that you cannot switch to another GSM provider because AT&T will *the only one in the United States*. This is bad, nothing else.
I have fled Southwestern Bell several times, only to have them buy the company I went to (including leaving to go to AT&T only to have them buy that and masquerade under that name).
I may have to do it again. Maybe I can move my number to a VoIP provider such as Vitelity in order to keep it, and then just go without a cell phone for a while. Americans spend a lot more on communications than other first world nations, and not having a phone bill for a while would fatten my wallet.
Now what will I do with my jailbroken/unlocked 1st gen iPhone?
Hopefully I keep my $70 a month unlimited edge data plan (until this thing dies, which seems like a long way off BTW).
Does anyone know who we should write letters to in order to shut this down??
I have specifically trying to avoid AT&T, and TMobile has been a decent choice. I hope the regulatory people have some common sense, but I doubt it!
T-Mobile is my carrier. Been with them for a very long time because they simply haven't done me wrong in the more than 10 years I have been with them. Someone has to stop this.
One of the best things about tmo was their UMA wifi calling feature. I would be able to travel internationally and then call home using any hotel wifi. Hope that will still be available...
AT&T as you know it, lost. They were bought by Cingular. The new company decided to go with the AT&T name, since it is more known. Similar to the Caldera buying SCO.
I've been a very happy pre-paid T-mobile customer for years. I hardly use the phone and I average about $60/year... I'm sure that's going away :(
This sucks!! I hope it fails regulatory approval!
Are some companies getting too big for our good ?
ibrochures
Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It makes Michael Kristopeit suck gay dick.
True
True
Likely
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
Aliens 2, Game Over Man, Game Over
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Well not "this" but that. And by that I mean I use ATI graphics cards and hate AMD. Then AMD Bought ATI, I use T-Mobile because I hate AT&T and now this? I can't win for losing. Christ, what's next. Apple buys Microsoft?
Sprint is looking like the only real option left and I really detest the $10 smartphone tax just on fucking principle.
The promise of unlimited wireless internet is looking bleaker and bleaker by the day.
The "tax" is just for Sprint's 4G phones, but even then, it gives you truly unlimited data (as in, no 5GB/month limit or anything of the sort) that their standard plans don't get. I went on a trip a couple of weeks ago and was tethered to my 4G phone almost the entire time, probably downloading more than 10 GB of data without a single complaint from Sprint. I don't pay for their tethering plan, either. I'm happy to pay the extra $10/month for that benefit.
I still have to hold in a laugh when some friends of mine who are stuck with AT&T complain about their tiny download caps and crappy limitations on their phones, and now with T-Mobile going the same way... From how I see it, Sprint is one of the only sane providers left. Here's to hoping they stay that way.
I'm pretty sure that Original Sin is basically a shrinkwrap EULA that you "agree" to by being born.
Attempts to explain the concept of "contract of adhesion" to a vengeful iron age deity have, as yet, been unsuccessful....
In Europe the provider is required by law to make the unlock code available. You have to pay an early termination fee if you break a contract but they cant block you from using the phone on another network if you want to.
I just bailed on AT&T (to T-mobile) so that, as a consumer, I could vote my dollars away from AT&T. Bad customer service, non-competitive pricing models, complete disconnection from the customer, and continued screwing up of phones (see Nokia e62, e61i, the list goes on and on). At least my pricing is locked in for 2 more years until AT&T forces me to pay more.
Hope you like vertically integrated telecommunications/content cartels. My only question is whether Comcast will buy a wireless service provider or AT&T will buy digital TV channels and fund original programs first.
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
This wouldn't be such a big deal if you could buy iPhones unlocked that would work across networks, but you can't, at least not cheaply. Since Apple shunned all providers except for ATT and now Verizon, consumers had less choice.This merger paves the way for T-Mobile users to finally get the option of getting an iPhone. This isn't about Android vs. iOS, it'a about choice. Right now I have only the choice of Android and I don't want an Android. I have one and hate the crashes and lack of support for the rest of my Apple ecosystem.
In my area, T-Moble service has gone down hill. Over the last couple of years my signal strength at home has dropped. T-Mobile needs another tower, but hasn't put one up. In the summer, I sometime have to go outside to use the phone. Cost is irrelevant if service is lacking.
I hope approval is swift and merger is complete. I want choice, choice I don't have.
This is as bad as when Lando sold Han out to Vader who in turn sold him out to Jabba...only this time Vader's just going to take TMO, do a Jedi mind trick on it and leave it for dead next to the Death Star. Count on the same features? Nope. Did Verizon keep any of the AllTel mentality? Of course not. They took the towers, bandwidth, put the customers on THEIR plans and then left the AllTel name for dead in the alley (I heard the 'Can you hear me now?' guy was seen kicking AllTel in the face screaming that). AT&T basically wants your money. They know they don't have the iPhone people anymore and when Consumer Reports advises you to go with anyone else except AT&T, well....that's how bad this is. All the cool WiFi calling features will likely go away...AT&T wants your money. Did I mention they want to rape your wallet? Seriously...there's 3 (4 if you count Cricket, but who does) wireless providers left after this. How is this competition? The prices won't go down, and if they do, it's at the expense of an unusable network (Sprint likely oversold their 3G network in places by over 1000% with the addition of Virgin Mobile's offerings...and right now it takes 10 minutes to load slashdot on my Android with VM). This just means the companies can charge more because...where are you going to go? I guess their new slogan is "More bars in more places, even if we have to murder your carrier and force you to use us without providing any extra bars".
Can the US Gov't stop this acquisition? Perhaps FCC, SEC or DOJ. Please let me know who I need to contact to help stop this acquisition. -AC-
I've had the same $19 "dumb" phone and pre-paid plan for 5 yrs. Every year, I purchase $10 worth of minutes, but within 90 days of the initial purchase, I bought $100 worth of minutes so I'm in the "gold plan" - minutes last 365 days, not 90 days. My average monthly cost for cell use is around $2.50.
AT&T won't stand for that. BTW, I was a consultant to AT&T for almost a decade, so I have an idea how they work internally.
I'm screwed. BTW, that 4-band phone still works nicely.
The title is wrong: "AT&T To Acquire T-Mobile From Deutsche Telekom" should read "AT&T To Acquire T-Mobile *USA* From Deutsche Telekom"
Does anyone know if this will void my existing contract with them?
To be blunt...I'm not willing to do business with AT&T or Verizon given their anticompetitive behavior. And I don't want to deal with their policy changes, or how this will likely annihilate tethering on my phone...
I'd rather go back to the crap local prepaid I used to use until TMO arrived here this past October.
If I see AT&T on my bill...I want the plan finished.
Now I am just interested to see how many different accounts you can pull out.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
So this is why tmobile stopped selling their most consumer-friendly plans: so att would have fewer grandfathered agreements to try to weasel out of!
There's a pretty big difference between self-sacrifice and suicide.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
You must hate America and Jesus, too.
He who hates AT&T, hates America... and telephones... and telegraphs.
They certainly can't compete based upon products and services.
Just goes to show you to survive in business you must, lie, cheat, and steal. Just look at Oracle, Best Buy and Amazon. It seems that if you are good to your customer you still go out of business.
My wife and I kept switching to get away from AT&T, and T-mobile has awesome signal in my area and excellent billing. $100/mo for 2 people with unlimited data and 500 voice minutes shared. I got this secret plan grandfathered in and I compare often and nothing would come close. Also I have not had a dropped call in many years.
We shall see! Maybe I can finally get an iPhone and dump this crappy Android!
Does anyone else get the feeling that this dumbass troll doesn't quite grasp the concept that "Anonymous Coward" isn't a single person, but rather the label applied to anyone posting anonymously?
My sig can beat up your sig.
It's a bot. Notice:
ur mum's face WILL KICK YOUR ASS.
It's just a copy and paste.
if you also depend on the okcupid website to meet people, perhaps berto is the answer to your dreams.
No, I'm pretty sure that's not the work of a bot; he's just that fucking retarded.
My sig can beat up your sig.
I went with Cingular to get away from AT&T. Switched to TMobile after.
my wife, ... , dogs
No need to get redundant there, tard.
Aww, copy-paste troll hurt my feelings.
Oh, wait, I don't give a crap about GOOD trolls, let alone shitty ones like you...
Carry on, idiot, carry on.
My sig can beat up your sig.
The problem with the US cell phone market is that there is not enough competition, and competition is stymied by technical incompatibilities and bad contracts. This merger won't make things any worse.
What really needs to be done is more regulation to allow a competitive market to function: all handsets must work on all carriers, customers need to be able to switch any time without penalties, and nebulous phone subsidies should be prohibited (carriers can still offer zero percent interest financing on phones, but the prices need to be transparent).
Troll moar plz.
My sig can beat up your sig.
I have been a T-Mobile customer for 5 years now. I've been using cells since 94 or 95 or so. I have been on a dozen or more cell companies and by far and away T-Mobile has the best customer service I have ever seen. When the iphone came out I jailbroke it and used it on T-Mo for the last 2 1/2 years. I refused to go ATT because of the higher (much) price for service and data PLUS the god awful customer service so I sucked it up and went with the lower EVDO data speeds on the iPhone under t-Mo. ATT may not be the grand Satan of automated phone Hell but they are definitely one of the bigger demons.
Just this month I left T-Mo and went with the Verizon iphone. ATT wants a $500 for me to hook up with them. Neither T-Mo nor verizon require any deposit at all from me.
This consolidation - *****just like every consolidation that has ever happened in the last 30 years **** will result in higher prices, worse service and loss of jobs.
ATT is the very worst and the only reason many people tend to choose them is because they have no other choice. Now they will have even fewer.
----- In Your Cubicle No One Can Hear You Scream...
Not when you're self-sacrificing yourself to yourself.
For those of us that remember, Ma Bell being a monopoly in the old days was actually a good thing and the break up has resulted in this fractured semi-regulated "screw the customer fest" .
If we return to one huge player, with the proper rules in place so that the consumer is protected and a % of their income is sent back to R&D and upkeep again, it might work out for us. ... or we will just get screwed ....
---- Booth was a patriot ----
This is a good thing, you godless socialist.
Yeah, right.
Mikey, Mikey, if you are trying to troll Slashdot you will need to do a lot better than that.
Another poor effort, 2/10
40 billion dollars - that's money they made off you, me, whicever of us is an AT&T customer, profit above and beyond their costs. Translation - they raped us, their customers, for 40bil dollars! No wonder our cell phone costs are highest in the western world, our service is the worse, our phone selection is the most abysmal, etc..
Yay for free markets - they work ever so well (dripping sarcasm!)
Do ya get locked into a one-year contract at yer grocery store wherein if your vittles suddenly start reeking of rotting chicken and have shiny little worms crawling around in them too bad, ya gotta eat 'em anyway?
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
You keep using this word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
you're completely pathetic.
At least he's getting slightly more creative.
I can't be the only one who actually finds his posts funny, though. Am I? AM I??
I should have been a girl, with the way I can dance... my moves are amazing!
While I have no faith in the promises of giants doing the purchasing, at least now you don't need to jailbreak an iPhone/iPad to get it on t-mobile.
Given the number of posts in this thread, I'd have to admit that he's pretty successful.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
I know several people using 3G and 3GS iPhones on T-Mobile. While the coverage is abysmal, the prepaid plans offer unlimited service for reasonable prices. One of them tried to put an unlocked iPhone on AT&T prepaid, and they detected it and said either convert to postpaid or get shut off. As soon as AT&T gets in control itll happen again.
cry out from my shadow begging for reassurance some more, feeb.
you're completely pathetic.
That problem exist today already with T-Mobile and AT&T if you have a smartphone. They use incompatible 3G frequencies, and only now after years of 3G is there hope of a unified cellular chip to run on both frequency sets. So even if you did want to switch to another GSM provider, you still had to look at new hardware.
at&t reminds me of this t-1000 character.
Not to butt in or anything - but it only took a minute and a half to find your phone number on that family website.
Diamond Studded 1 and Dollar sign and all. 0916 - Someone might then place that number on craigslist.
Well, at least you'll be popular...
Walmart made a splash a few month back with their new post paid family mobile plan. They touted their service as riding on T-Mobile's gear. I wonder if AT&T will want to keep this in place. If they do, how will it affect the WMart plans?
I have been on an el cheapo plan or quite a while. Will AT&T eventually jack my rates? Time will tell I suppose. I, for one, will be keeping an eye on how this develops over time. It may be time to jump to a regional carrier like Cellular South.
God is good all the time! -K
I use t-mobile because AT&T won't support iphones in my zipcode. (we have AT&T coverage, but they cancel your plan if you use more than 50% of your minutes in the zipcode.) I have an iphone that is jaiilbroken and works on t-mobile. So this kinda blows.
It's not that I a freak that needs to have a jailbroken iphone out of some misplaced sense of ownership issues. I just want an iphone and t-mobile delivers for me when AT&T won't.
I could switch to verizon but then I'd have to buy all new handsets and verizon is 1) expensive 2) has horrible customer service compared to T-mobile. Plus I can't move my GSM card to other handsets when I want to leave the iphone at home.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
you're an ignorant hypocrite.
cower in my shadow behind your chosen role playing game pseudonym some more, feeb.
you're completely pathetic.
Except my name is Ku Shika ( ), and saying my full name would be Shikaku, which means square, hence my anonym. I live in the White House as a foreign advisor for an agency.
Stupid bot, don't assume, because it makes an ass out of you and me. You're completely pathetic.
Slashdot ate my UTF. Double UTF Slashdot?
ur mum's face're completely pathetic.
cower in my shadow discrediting your "agency" some more, feeb.
i presume you'll continue to attempt exemptions to your ignorant hypocrisy.
you're an idiot
Do ya get locked into a one-year contract at yer grocery store wherein if your vittles suddenly start reeking of rotting chicken and have shiny little worms crawling around in them too bad, ya gotta eat 'em anyway?
No, but if I did, I would be able to sue the grocery store for violation of their contract, as you can with the cellular companies if the service they're providing is suddenly sub-par and vastly inferior to its conditions at the start of the contract.
http://www.iphone-hacks.com/2011/03/18/att-sniffing-out-unauthozied-iphone-tethering-users/
Have fun!
so start your own wireless internet company, and promise your customers unlimited access.
are you not free to do so?
Correct. You can figure out why.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
The above commenter almost certainly works for one of the recent "reputation management" companies that work to subvert online communities from discussing stories that may reflect badly on very big companies. This particular UID was created a few days ago to perform a similar function in a story with the headline "Time Warner Cable Cuts iPad Live TV Access 50%". The tactic is to create a very large section of long, useless trolling comments at the very beginning of the comments section made up of a lot of anonymous idiocy broken up by idiocy from registered users, almost always very recently registered.
I've seen this tactic used on a lot of stories that always seem to be about some very very large corporation, sometimes on the very same stories reported at other websites with large and active commenter communities. I'm not exactly sure how the technique would work, but it's too widespread and too uniform to be anything but an organized effort. You even see variations on the same user names in different social networking and discussion-based websites.
I know for a fact that companies like New Media Strategies and all the "Reputation Defender" and reputation.com companies that have recently sprung up are not shy about using some very disruptive and underhanded tactics to try to achieve their goals for their clients, and will sometimes even brag to their clients about their techniques. I know someone who worked for one of these outfits and the stories he would tell are pretty disgusting. And these companies are very richly capitalized. There's a lot of money in obfuscation it seems. Corporations do not want us to know what they are up to.
Information is already often untrustworthy. We either have to find a way to thwart these efforts or we have to speed development of ad hoc networks on a large scale. If there's not going to be meaningful net neutrality, then we're going to have to do it ourselves.
By the way, AT&T buying T-Mobile is a terrible development. We can hope that the Justice Department steps in and stops this, but they've been pretty soft on anti-trust. AT&T should not be getting bigger, they should be getting broken up. We will all lose on this deal.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Really think you'll win a suit for "dropped calls"? Still going to keep that carrier as you sue them? Rather, think they'll keep you? If the answer is "No." to either of the latter questions or if all you succeed in doing is getting out of your contract, that leaves you sans a cell phone unless you're in an area with overlapping coverage from multiple carriers...something that monopolies are intended to prevent.
Heck, you miss out on a lot of profit if you have competition...hence the carriers gobbling each other up.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
You still haven't mastered the word 'hypocrite'. ;)
I thought your keyboard was taken away!
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Just what America needs, a GSM monopoly!
This is such a blatantly terrible idea, if the FCC and/or SEC do not shit all over this merger there is no hope for consumers in this country.
that leaves you sans a cell phone unless you're in an area with overlapping coverage from multiple carriers....
Care to name an area with a population density greater than 10/sqmi which doesn't have that?
T-Mobile has the best prepaid plans in the US. I hardly ever use my phone and only pay $10/yr for my prepaid plan (Gold Account and I use less than 90 minutes a year). Yes, that's $10 per year.
AT&T is going to kill that, I know they are.
The ratio of people to cake is too big
So T-Mobile is a good wireless company huh? Well don't have a family member in your family plan die or you will still be required to keep them on your plan until the contract ends. Great customer service there. I say this from direct experience when my wife's father passed away and T-Mobile refused to remove him from their family plan.
> No, but if I did, I would be able to sue the grocery store for violation of their contract, as you can with the cellular companies if the service they're providing is suddenly sub-par and vastly inferior to its conditions at the start of the contract.
You almost certainly can't--read your contract. You can go to arbitration. Which you will lose.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
As a T-Mobile employee, I, for one, welcome my new Telecom Overlords.
I have a pay as you go phone from T-Mobile. I buy $100 worth of minutes and they don't expire for a year. With AT&T's prepaid plan you have a dollar a day access fee on top of the minutes you use. If you use it daily it is going to cost you $30 a month + minutes instead of just the minutes like it is now under T-Mobile. I hope they let us stay grandfathered in on T-Mobile's prepaid plan.
> No, but if I did, I would be able to sue the grocery store for violation of their contract, as you can with the cellular companies if the service they're providing is suddenly sub-par and vastly inferior to its conditions at the start of the contract.
You almost certainly can't--read your contract. You can go to arbitration. Which you will lose.
You can always sue somebody. If the court finds them guilty of violating their contract, then the arbitration clause doesn't matter.
I worked for SBC before/during the at&t merger as low-level IT grunt albeit. If nothing else I learned about the power and loyalty of the telecom unions (they seemed to be holding up signs in front of the building every other week).
I never see anybody cover this angle but big companies like at&t kind of got both sides covered these days: the corporation lobbying one half of the political spectrum while the union as a separate entity lobbies the other side. if this goes through, I have a feeling it will, it will be largely because it's in the union's best interest as anyone else. Remember when you villainize "the share holder's" you're talking about lots of union members with retirements coming up in the next 10 years tied directly to the value of the at&t stock...
"UNIX is very simple, it just needs a genius to understand its simplicity." -Dennis Ritchie
i hate at&t so much. Do we really need to let them take over everything?
Why do you cower behind someone else's name and address?
You are exactly what I say you are. You are cocksucker, prancing around with a mouth full of cum. I will kick your pathetic head in, faggot.
Citation needed.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
Actually, at least for 3g with some (their Galaxy S variants) the T-mobile one will work on both T-mobile and AT&T, but the AT&T will only work on AT&T. I don't know about the others, but it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't the only phone that's like that.
I love Verizon and I don't see anyone buying them anytime soon.
There's a post below that goes into more detail, but please stop responding to "Michael Kristopeit". This is one of several personas created by firms paid to disrupt and obfuscate meaningful discussion in forums that are typically hostile to their clients. The "Michael Kristopeit" approach is but one of several that are made use of towards this end, and is the most obnoxious. When you reply, you are helping it do it's job.
"...as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."
That new AT&T logo just keeps getting better and better...
SBC Communications (formerly Southwestern Bell) bought them in 2005 and renamed themselves AT&T since the name was already better known (as a source of overwhelming evil, sure, but still, better market recognition is better market recognition).
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
You are almost certainly right. It is worse than I thought. There's sockpuppet software being marketed: link.
at&t is really just trying there hardest to take over every bit of data services in america. first they get rid of unlimited data plans on ther smartphones , now there going to cap WIRED plans for no reason other than there upset people are using it for netflix , hulu etc.. instead of paying them $4 per movie on demand. now there going to buy t-mobile , make them all use at&t extremely low capped data plans thus eliminating another option people had to get away from there evil business practices. everything there doing is wrong , and keeps our country from innovation , bandwith speed increases , infastructure building , all in the name of better profits for shareholders , and complaining that a fake 2% of users are why they cannot provide better services when infact there just to cheap to do it because they would rather nickle and dime us every opportunity they have. god forbid they actually do major expansion instead of extremely slow expansion so they have an excuse to charge us more for something that is far behind its time. look at uverse its still running of copper because they were to cheap to actually install fiber because they want to get as much money possible out of copper making there and there shareholders pockets bigger before they actually choose to go to fiber where our country could actually compete with others. even though verizon is greedy as well at least there trying to use newer technologies. i bet now simply gsm's unlimited data plan will dissapear as well because it runs of t-mobile. AT&T Should be stop and split up just like it was years ago because now there even bigger then they were back than. there the biggest phone company , and soon to be biggest mobile company , i wonder whats next.
Buy outs usually mean layoffs. A lot of good people will be losing their jobs over this. There is no good side to that.
Before, or after this merger? And then there is always the next merger...entirely predictable, since competition inhibits profits.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
Before, or after this merger? And then there is always the next merger...entirely predictable, since competition inhibits profits.
You conveniently dodged the question there. Everywhere I have ever been in the last 5 years (and I've been deep in the boonies on several occasions) had coverage from at least one cellular provider on CDMA and at least one provider on GSM. That makes at least two. Everywhere.
Wait. I'm confused.
Is this just shitty /. threading or did the trolltard actually just fall into trolling itself?
AT&T doesn't seem to have figured out that engorging itself won't increase its appeal.
You all need to find better jobs so you can afford to not worry about the cost of your mobile phone service.
I thought that T-Mobile and Sprint, used the same network at Verizon; but that AT&T used a different network. So will AT&T be using the same network as Verizon?
You conveniently dodged the question there. Everywhere I have ever been in the last 5 years (and I've been deep in the boonies on several occasions) had coverage from at least one cellular provider on CDMA and at least one provider on GSM. That makes at least two. Everywhere.
I didn't dodge anything. As you are very well aware it is very difficult to determine coverage overlap simply by looking at the maps. What I did do, however, is point out that this is further consolidation that does not in any way, shape or form preclude even more consolidation - and as you yourself note, there are many places where there are only two providers.
Your differentiation between CDMA and GSM technologies as your gambit, though, does allow me to point something else out: This merger of Tmobile and AT&T will snare Tracfone users, as "over 90% of Tracfone customers will use one of these two carriers"; the two carriers in question being Tmobile and AT&T.
In this economy that increasingly favors only the well-heeled, the new ability AT&T will have to put the squeeze on Tracfone could - and likely should - be considered to be a threat to those Americans who cannot get a cell phone any way other than through "no-contract" companies. And since that slide out of the middle class has achieved the status of an economic trend in this Republican economy, that is likely to be a significant - if not the - driver behind AT&T's decision.
That would be good for sales of AT&T's "Go Phone", wouldn't it, if suddenly Tracfone was unable to be cost-competitive?
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
correct me if I'm wrong, but you meant AT&T used 3G and EDGE frequencies that are non-standard, right? I spend most of my time overseas where GSM phones are incredibly affordable and very few people have a contract because pre-paid services are so easy to use. In fact, over here many people have SIMs for several different networks and dual-SIM phones are common - imagine that happening in the States! I've tried an AT&T SIM for longer visits stateside but they had no coverage in my family's area, and were quite overpriced. my current phone is a cheap T-Mobile phone which is working just fine overseas. same problems with coverage in America, of course, but at least I was spending much less for it. All of my family are on Verizon but I was planning to get a T-Mobile account and a Nexus S or perhaps its successor when do end up back in the States long-term. guess I'll be just as screwed as everyone else then, so I'd better enjoy the foreign cell networks while I'm here.
It is neither stupid, nor a meme. Cite-checking is something intelligent people do if they want to be sure about something. Someone made a claim that I have reason to know is wrong in almost every case. Rather than get into a fight about it or spend a while documenting he is wrong (which he is more likely to discount than his own research), I suggested he provide evidence for his assertion. If he is wrong he can realize it, and if he is right he can back it up.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
When I was in Japan, I could choose between AU KDDI, Softbank, and DoCoMo. And you know what? They all had awesome service.
Here, check out this $3/mo student plan on Softbank this year. Oh, and no fees for 3 years. Also, plans in Japan always have a "maximum overage charge," so maybe if you go over your allotted data it'll be something like $5/x megabytes, but it's a maximum of $40, or so, for any given month.
http://mb.softbank.jp/en/price_plans/student_family.html
Why is it that us Western countries are incapable of providing good service if a company grows too large? Why can't we use leverage the strength of that largeness to dramatically increase efficiencies, and lower cost due to economies of scale like the Asians can? /American here //If I could get for even $50/mo what I got in Japan for $13/mo, I'd be thrilled
Please NO! T-Mobile has been great to me for years. They unlock my phones for free with no hassle at all. Their service people speak English and actually know what they are doing. AT&T is a subsidiary of SATAN, LLP. There are reasons people used to throw Molotov Cocktails at them. I need GSM, because I travel. This gives me no choice at all. ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
I didn't dodge anything. As you are very well aware it is very difficult to determine coverage overlap simply by looking at the maps. What I did do, however, is point out that this is further consolidation that does not in any way, shape or form preclude even more consolidation - and as you yourself note, there are many places where there are only two providers. Your differentiation between CDMA and GSM technologies as your gambit, though, does allow me to point something else out: This merger of Tmobile and AT&T will snare Tracfone users, as "over 90% of Tracfone customers will use one of these two carriers"; the two carriers in question being Tmobile and AT&T. In this economy that increasingly favors only the well-heeled, the new ability AT&T will have to put the squeeze on Tracfone could - and likely should - be considered to be a threat to those Americans who cannot get a cell phone any way other than through "no-contract" companies. And since that slide out of the middle class has achieved the status of an economic trend in this Republican economy, that is likely to be a significant - if not the - driver behind AT&T's decision. That would be good for sales of AT&T's "Go Phone", wouldn't it, if suddenly Tracfone was unable to be cost-competitive?
I did not ever say there are only two providers. I said there are at least two providers. Most providers usually offer free roaming these days, so as long as you have coverage with one provider on the same frequency as yours, you have coverage.
You also seem to not realize that there are other prepaid cellular services than Tracfone and GoPhone. Amp'd, Boost, Virgin, and Verizon Prepaid to name a few. Those are all on CDMA, so they aren't subject to AT&T's grapple hold on the nation's GSM network.
It seems like whenever a large corporation makes an acquisition of another large corporation, people always run around like it's going to completely ruin the world and our economy and every consumer everywhere. The sky is not falling, folks. Consumers still have the power to vote with their wallets, and that power isn't going anywhere. Are Alltel customers any worse off than before their acquisition? Are SiriusXM customers any worse off than before that merger? The only two satellite radio providers in the country merging to become one supermonopoly? It's still $12.95/mo and the coverage and programming is better than ever. What's the big deal?
Yes, I've used AT&T and yes I've used T-Mobile.
I don't care a rat's ass about coverage because T-Mobile was "good enough" for my purposes.
The biggest downside is that AT&T's customer service, really, really, really sucks. That's why I was a "loyal" T-Mobile customer, not because I was on any contract. T-Mobile was great to me. Hey, I asked them to unlock my phone, no problem, they just did it. They had reasonably priced plans with the data. If there was any cock up with the bills, they fixed it. AT&T? They blamed it on me, try to fix things after they figure out it w as their f**ing fault and tried to charge me for it to. I know it's not good to say "never", but I will never use AT&T again. Ever.
There are going to be a ton of very pissed of T-Mobile customers. I wonder if anyone will step up to the plate and woo them over? Plus I really like T-Mobile Girl :-)
AT&T and T-Mobile customers are going to get screwed unless someone kills the AT&T CEO.
We can argue to the judge in court that it was justifiable homiside.
--308
You'll soon be able to use your phone to call your friend to complain about the T-Mobile switch while surfing on Slashdot to complain, all at the same time. Because, only AT&T's network gives you the power to call and surf at the same time.
I gave up AT&T DSL when the line from the street came disconnected and they wouldn't fix it. It's probably been laying on the ground 2 years now and after multiple calls they still wouldn't do anything. They wouldn't fix it when the service was cutting out consistently BEFORE the line fell either. They were still happy to take my money and I get a several ads to come back each month. I've been on Comcast since which despite its bad press has been far more reliable. I've no reason to consider going back as long as the line is down. They'll probably start billing and never reconnect me. (As they billed while refusing to fix at the end of my relationship with them.)
So far AT&T and Verizon have been caught methodically over-billing people as well as trying to contract-away the right to sue over it. (If you commit X criminal acts a year, shouldn't any attempt to get your customers to sign away the ability to sue be seen as an attempt to do more of the same? Why isn't there a way for a company to keep going but top execs who keep making illegal policies to be sent to jail?) Sprint f'd over a friend by voiding the warranty on his phone, because when it was being serviced he had the gall to (gasp) put his SIM chip in his old phone.
Maybe pre-pay will do well, it's not like I make that many calls...
Don't think the Alltel acquisition fits your "population density of at least 10/sqMi" criteria. I.e., if you had coverage before that acquisition in those areas, it is highly unlikely that AT&T could screw it up by piping more traffic through those towers.
Also don't think that saying "I did not ever say there are only two providers." when you admit to saying "I said there are at least two providers." does a very good job of ruling out areas where there are only two providers...else you'd have said "at least three providers", eh?
And as far as those other prepaid providers? Coverage isn't as nearly as universal across America in the prepaid arena as it is in the traditional contract arena....they haven't attained the monopolies the mainstream cell carriers are working on - which is why prepaid is still a viable and economical alternative. (For now, anyway...but after a Tmobile/AT&T merger? Maybe not.)
And seriously...using SiriusXM as an example of how good monopolies are for people? A purely entertainment choice - meaning that people can dump them without any hesitation or qualms whatsoever should their service start sucking or they start charging outrageous fees...as compared to the literally life and death necessity of a phone? lollll....SiriusXM's Karmazin knows he better keep a handle on his greed, or people will pop out to FM and/or their CD collection and/or their 32 Gb SD card. That ain't the case with the CEOs of the major cell providers.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
compared to the literally life and death necessity of a phone
Any credibility you once had. Gone.
AT&T isn't the legacy phone company that it once was. It's now a brand. The company that bought the brand, SBC Communications, presumably thought that this was a good brand to buy and has nothing to do with the legacy. Personally I'd have gone with a new brand like, "Antichrist, Inc", as a brand that didn't have the customer service baggage of AT&T and yet expressed the desire to screw every contract holder, but that's just me. Obviously SBC Inc wanted to own the brand associated with the motto "We don't have to care. We're the phone company. They could have taken it in a new and different direction, but apparently abusing your customers is a key metric to profitability.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
You just will have to leave the US to do it.
waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
Now that GSM operators in US are finally under one roof, it can only mean improved service and lower prices due to leaner structure. No more time and money wasted competing with other operators, but now AT&T can finally concentrate on selfless giving to it's customers. Monopoly is always in the best interests of The Citizen.
All hail The Corporation, The Corporation is good for you!
If all else fails, pull the plug and get out...
The Life is out there...
You know why AT&T didn’t want Sprint to buy T-Mobile? Because Sprint leases out towers to other carriers (i.e. CREDO and Virgin mobile). If Sprint bought T-Mobile, they would finally create an open GSM network with leased towers where everyone could swap SIM cards to switch between providers. Making competition totally viable and knocking AT&T off its rocker. But its stopped that, for now. And we wont have an open Euro/Asian/Latin GSM network for another few decades.
Seattle, WA
I started in Sprint. Had 0 coverage in my apartment. Switched to AT&T and got intermittent and bad coverage. Switched to T-Mobile and could finally have a 10 minute conversation. And I also use their discounted month to month data plan since I provided my own phone and save $$.
Where else can you get an unlimited Data plan for $20? Evidently nowhere next year. Yay consolidation!
Not when you are the bastard son of god.
compared to the literally life and death necessity of a phone
Any credibility you once had. Gone.
lolllll....I daresay your being unaware that people use cell phones to dial emergency medical, fire, and police services in order to protect their own or other lives while both at home and away is incredibly helpful to your credibility.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
Virgin Mobile USA www.virginmobileusa.com $25/month flat gets me 300 minutes of talk plus unlimited texting plus 5GB ('Unlimited' they say, but we know what they mean). $40/mo. gets 1,200 minutes of talk $60/mo gets unlimited talk. They use Sprint's network. Their call center droids in the Phillipines are dumber than a bag of hammers, so use web/e-mail support if you want an accurate answer.
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
A few years back, there were these two phone companies. One was named AT&T (which is the AT&T you are demonizing and was the remnant of what was broken up) and the other was named Cingular. One day Cingular bought AT&T. Now the Cingular name didn't have the history and name recognition AT&T had, so decided to use the name they had just bought.
To make a short story even shorter, the "AT&T" you are railing against, is really Cingular. Much like the SCO of recent hatred is really Caldera, not the former Santa Clara Organization that actually put out a product.
Cingular. Look it up.
It'll give AT&T a absolute monopoly on the GSM network, meaning all the coolest foreign phones will run only on AT&T. AT&T's infrastructure sucks now precisely because Apple gave them a fucking device monopoly and hoards of locked-in users with the iPhone.
I avoid carriers like Verizon, Sprint, MetroPCS, etc. that employ Qualcomm's shitty "ass rape the consumers though device lock-in" technology, i.e. buy only GSM phones. Note the rows for note the operator locking and intellectual property on that table. I avoid the most monopolistic of the GSM carriers too though, i.e. AT&T.
It follows that this acquisition presents a very big problem for me. It'll suck ass if all the interesting foreign phones, traditionally better than phones available in the U.S., are now only usable on AT&T and their virtual carriers. Yes, Android has improved the phone situation on Qualcomm's carriers like Sprint of course, but that doesn't resolve the fundamental evil that is Qualcomm's carrier lock-in via ESN.
Btw, you should also oppose this deal if you own significant stock in Microsoft : We know the best hardware running Windows Phone 7 will come from Nokia, making them GSM and AT&T only.
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
Worst. Troll. Ever. Not even funny anymore.
I will personally welcome any other new overlord.
But please oh great omnipotent spaghetti monster not this!
I thought the idea of a Sprint take over was bad but this is unholy.
Before Ill give a dime to the "Unlimited is really only 5gb" %$%#ing scum that is ATT (Sony, Verizon, Microsoft are all in the Evil list as well)
"Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
Did I mention that this is BAD?
I was planning on switching from ATT to T-moblie, now it seems that wont be happening.
ATT is raping everyone AGAIN on phone service.
They did it before and they were broken up, now they are doing it again.
First caps on Data, now caps on DSL. Whats next caps on how long you can turn your phone on for?
Also everyone seems to forget that Verizon was ATT New York before.
So 25 years after the break up 85% of the market is/was ATT.......
New York City and L.A. iPhone users rejoice!! This allows AT&T to capture the stellar T-Mobile coverage in NYC and L.A. Years ago, T-Mobile and Cingular created GSM Partners to create a shared network in NYC and L.A. When Cingular and AT&T merged, AT&T was forced off the GSM Partners network onto the horrid AT&T network.
With this purchase, AT&T re-gains the amazing coverage that they used to have with GSM Partners, and the two cities with the most media coverage (and the most bitter iPhone users) will finally stop complaining.
All that for nearly $40 billion.
Kriston
The worst thing about this: no more commercials with Carly Foulkes, the lovely T-Mobile spokesmodel.
Proverbs 21:19
I have to tentatively agree. It used to be that one could count on a pay phone being available in most public places, but since mobile phones became readily available they've virtually disappeared. That being said, in the USA one can walk around with any old phone without service and still be able to call 911.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Ooops, I mean, now all cellphones are ATT.
That hot brunette in the commercials? We'll still see her in ads for a year or so, right?
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
...there has come a measurably reduced rate of transmission of cold and flu viruses in densely populated areas of the USA during the fall and winter seasons. That's one benefit.
Its worked well up here so far!
Sparks, MD
Verizon works here, but AT&T does not.
I live in Baltimore City, MD and I work in Sparks, MD. I get no AT&T cell reception within ~25 feet of my home, but Verizon works great. In Sparks, Verizon works fine but AT&T gets between 0 and 2 bars, depending on where you are standing. Even more pathetic is that Sparks is mostly a big technology park, so there are a lot of Android and iPhones here. I've been to several AT&T stores to complain and they just suggest I buy a microcell. In the building across the street from where I work, the employees pooled their money and bought one. People love their iPhones so much that they actually don't care if they have service or not. And AT&T doesn't care that there are hundreds of iPhones with no service in this area.
Wanna bet? Two words: rural Wisconsin. There, they like 'em ignorant and most definitely disconnected.
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
There's a pretty big difference between self-sacrifice and suicide.
Yes, when He does it its the greatest thing there (n)ever was.
When you do it its a sin beyond which there is no redemption (as determined by humans, who having never seen the afterlife, are not qualified to hold an opinion).
Please mod "-1 Honest".
"Say good-bye to the one that had the best customer service and was most friendly towards Android and rooting." and the only reason you got that was because they were an underdog and had to offer something to get you to come over, it's called "competition" but you don't have to worry about that any more.
You also seem to not realize that there are other prepaid cellular services than Tracfone and GoPhone. Amp'd, Boost, Virgin, and Verizon Prepaid to name a few. Those are all on CDMA, so they aren't subject to AT&T's grapple hold on the nation's GSM network.
Amp'd Mobile= Dead. They filed for Chapter 11 in 2007 and ceased service that same year.
Boost Mobile AND Virgin Mobile USA = Sprint/ NeXTEL (Virgin Mobile USA is a different company from Virgin Mobile owned by the British company, Virgin Group).
You do have Verizon Wireless Prepaid right.
The only other independent Cellphone Carrier is LeapWireless who offer Cricket Communications.
Personal Experience with the Four Companies available( AT&T, Sprint/NeXTEL, Verison, and Leap) as I've had them all at one time or another:
AT&T had the worst customer security of all of them, AND they allowed my mother access to my personal cellphone account when she wasn't even an authorized user on the account. When they permitted her to change my plan to a cheaper one (bless the woman's heart, she thought she was protecting me when I wound up unknowingly running up a $400 overage bill for using the minutes I thought I still had). Because they facilitated what amounts to fraud and identity theft with no social engineering skill used, whatsoever. She just identified herself as herself to the rep, and got all the power as if I were the one making the changes. I was 21 at the time and in no way tied to my mother's household. I refuse to ever use them again for anything.
Sprint, while I've never had to deal with Identity theft, leaves much to be desired with their customer service; especially in relation to their billing. I've also had similar issue with Virgin Mobile USA, so it's across the company.
Verizon is Fair with their Customer Service, I haven't dealt with their prepaid, but their service is a bit overpriced for what the customer really gets.
Cricket I've had the best experience with so far. They're straight on the billing (I've never had a phantom charge on a bill to date) Unlimited has been truly unlimited. And, although initial customer service is outsourced, the peons don't usually wait too long to step things up to Tier 1 support, where there's usually a native English speaker that understands the network. The only problem I've had is the coverage isn't where I need it to be, yet.
The default service provider when you buy a Nexus S in the US from Best Buy is T-Mobile. You are of course not required to purchase a plan, and you can put any SIM card you like into the phone because it is not unlocked. However, what will happen to the next generation of Nexus phones? Will AT&T allow stores to sell their plan as the default plan for the next gen nexus? As others have said about the common man not being interested in jailbreaking/rooting, do you think anyone other than geeks will buy the next nexus if it is not offered by any service provider at all? Right now, I think the Nexus S is perceived as being a T-Mobile phone, and as such will be bought by Joe Normal Guy. If AT&T don't allow their service to be offered for the next gen devices sold in stores, what happens?
The Cingular/AT&T Integration project was a fucking disaster on many levels. I can only speak about what happened in the Northeast Market from the perspective of a subcontractor. It was like watching a blind monkey trying to hump a greased up basketball! The integration project consisted of taking the Blue sites (AT&T) and the Orange sites (Cingular) and merging them into what they dubbed Gold sites. It's doubtful that they'll go through the added trouble of trying to migrate the Pink sites (T-Mobile) into the Gold. The only places they could do that would be BTS sites that actually have shelters or are indoors. The standalone Tyco cabinets do not have enough room for the T-mobile radio equipment. Plus it would necessitate recabling all the T1's feeding the radios to the new combined sites. All the Gold sites should have been cabled with 25 pair, enough capacity for 12 T1's. What's truly sad was the fact that a majority of the necessary Outside Plant work needed for network expansion was done in 2006, enough to allow for 400% network growth to both the GSM and UMTS side. All that needed to be done was run the patch cabling to any added Nokia or Ericsson equipment at the BTS'es and make the necessary additions in the switches. 5 years later and most of that hasn't been done yet. AT&T sure isn't buying T-Mo for towers.... T-mo is mostly setup on co-located sites and doesn't have many of their own.
No, but if I did, I would be able to sue the grocery store for violation of their contract, as you can with the cellular companies if the service they're providing is suddenly sub-par and vastly inferior to its conditions at the start of the contract.
Wow, you are funny man.
Ahh, there's "competition", but its not easy to transition from one to the other. For one, in the example you gave, you're gonna have to get a new phone, regardless of how old your current one is, or how much you like it. And odds are, the phone you have is not available on the other guy's network. Oh, and don't forget that couple hundred dollar "We Suck" fee, designed to prevent you from moving.
Consumers still have the power to vote with their wallets, and that power isn't going anywhere.
Really? Cause I "voted with my wallet" to get away from AT&T. And look where that got me.
You can always sue somebody.
Unless you waive your right to sue, which, oh wait, you did.
T-Mobile is friendly towards Android & rooting? That's not the Deutsche Telekom i used to know.
Try to get client software for platforms other than Windows (DSL and the like).
It's pretty easy to hate them. The quality of their services is unmatched, though. Or better: the competitors are even worse!
- timbo (still Telekom customer)
Yes, the 911 feature working no matter what is definitely a lifesaver...'cept folks who get cut off from service in a dispute or whatever typically let the cell phones gather dust uncharged. But even that service - assuming their cells are charged - doesn't help the handicapped and older folks whose life is equally contingent upon being able to arrange transportation to various doctors for appointments, pharmacies for the picking up of prescriptions, and so on.
And in this little town I'm staying in at the moment, the older folks got pride up the wazoo...dangerously so. They'd rather pull that "I don't want to be a bother." trick and call a relative or a neighbor - or just put their symptoms off until it is too late - instead of calling 911.
So I hate to see anything come along that presents the opportunity - the monopolistic opportunity - to put price pressure on them. They went to prepaid cells and such because Social Security doesn't stretch far enough in a time of soaring energy prices...they're under enough pressure already when they can see that the Republicans have all social safety nets in their gun sights as well as anybody else can.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
*snip*
I don't want anyone to forget their illegal warrantless wiretapping and the massive lobbying effort get themselves retroactive immunity for their cooperation over the illegal spying on you.
Thank You for reminding everyone. I was gonna do that till I saw your post.
If it has tires or tits, it will give you problems.
So how come no one's gone with Hitler Telecom?
(Not really trying to Godwin, just pointing out that some names are too tainted even for megacorps.
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
Anybody remember Ma Bell?