How Even a Failed AT&T/T-Mobile Deal Hurts Rivals

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 26, 2011 @04:44AM from the can't-lose-for-winning dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The attempted merger between AT&T and T-Mobile has fallen on hard times amid antitrust concerns, but there's a potential silver lining for T-Mobile — one that would give them a boost over competitors anyway. Reuters reports that T-Mobile USA would be entitled to a hefty breakup fee including $3 billion in cash as well as spectrum and roaming agreements. 'In a research note, Moody's said that could also lead to a network sharing deal between the two companies, reasoning that it "would make sense given the spectrum that AT&T will have to cede to T-Mobile and the 3G roaming agreement between the two." That would make life especially hard for No. 3 U.S. carrier Sprint, which has been one of the most vocal opponents of the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, going so far as to file a lawsuit. ... Smaller rivals such as MetroPCS and Leap Wireless may be affected even more because T-Mobile is eyeing similar customer segments.'"

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Re:Deutsche Telekom still doesn't want T-Mobile by guises · 2011-11-26 05:36 · Score: 4, Interesting

There's been some speculation that CenturyLink might step up to buy T-Mobile. They're the third largest telecommunications company in the US and the only major one without cellular service.

Speaking as a T-Mobile customer I've been ecstatic at the FCC's action here and I view the purchase of T-Mobile by almost anyone other than AT&T or Verizon with far less trepidation than I had previously. It would be nice if Deutsche Telekom changed their mind about the whole thing, that has been known to happen, but I can't really see a downside here.