AT&T swallows T-Mobile to create US' largest carrier

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AT&T has announced that it will be buying T-Mobile, creating the US' largest cellular carrier, and giving AT&T a quick fix for infrastructure and spectrum limits.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/business/news/2011/03/att-swallows-t-mobile-to-create-us-largest-carrier.ars'>Read the whole story</a>
 
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ffkilla

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  • #13
    uviathon":1ljgkohe said:
    Why wouldn't regulators have to pre-approve this, like they did with Comcast/NBC, AOL/Time Warner? Is it simply because it's a "buyout" and not a "merger"?
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    I think more concern was placed on the Comcast/NBC because it merged creation with delivery. But i could be wrong.
     
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    pavon

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  • #15
    Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

    T-Mobile is the only major mobile provider that lets you have contract-free subsidy-free phone plans. They are more open about providing unlocking codes, and allowing third-party phones than any other major carrier. The are the only major mobile provider whose prepaid plans aren't a total rip-off. I don't give a shit about LTE, and if I did I could change carriers. I care about not being forced to pay $50-70 a month for services I don't use. I care about having free choice in which phone I use.

    The only potentially good thing that I was looking forward to about LTE was unification of the protocol, so you could take your phone from one carrier to the next, but the FCC screwed that up by letting every carrier operate on different frequencies. And now there will be no choice of providers for GSM phones in the US.
     
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    Sufinsil

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  • #16
    Right, it will help competition I'm sure they will keep T-Mobile's competitive prices. No they won't... It will also neglect to be in a hurry to upgrade these rural areas to LTE because, why should they! when they do it in a city of millions and make more.

    Honestly if T-Mobile would work out a deal with Apple and get the iPhone. Not like they are losing money.

    Hope it gets rejected.
     
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    ignignokt

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  • #19
    uviathon wrote:
    Why wouldn't regulators have to pre-approve this, like they did with Comcast/NBC, AOL/Time Warner? Is it simply because it's a "buyout" and not a "merger"?


    They do.
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    Unfortunately considering how easily Comcast/NBC got rubber-stamped despite the unmitigated disaster it represents for customers, I'd say that's pretty much a formality.
     
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    VoodooTrucker

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  • #20
    OMFG GOD! I was going to switch to T-mobile with my new Nexus S when my AT&T contact was up!

    WTGDFH is wrong with this country!?! Can nothing be regulated anymore? Is there no end to how far they will let the "free market" screw everyone?

    Can AT&T and Verizon just merge into "State Telco" and be done with it? Maybe after that they will have enough cash to do a leveraged buyout of the federal government as well, then we can just say the free market won and we are all its citizens now.
     
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    metafor

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  • #27
    xuto":q4cx65fo said:
    I wonder if our government can do anything about this because it is a foreign acquisition. I sure as hell hope they can do something. AT&T is the new big evil.
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    Not with the derpfest, mega-corp-c*ck-sucking GOP in place. Watch as every talking head will try to spin this as a good thing and cry "SOCIALISM" to regulators.
     
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    solomonrex

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  • #29
    We've had so many carriers leave the market in the last ten years. Our telecom market is effectively broken. The vast majority of broadband is monopolized and wireless is logjammed with two effectively identical providers dominating.

    This is why government exists: to fix markets and keep our nation competitive. Not to enrich the stockholders of AT&T and VZW (half of whom are foreigners).
     
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    nootau

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  • #31
    I had been looking at Verizon and sprint, but I love simultaneous data/voice that GSM provides. Been with Tmobile since 2004, never liked AT&T's pricing structure for data (or voice really)....so it looks like I'll be moving to Verizon (Thunderbolt?) very soon. RIP TMobile, You were not perfect, but I was never gouged.
     
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    The Ginger Rat

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  • #34
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    fuxxx

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  • #38
    uviathon":b33ayg4f said:
    Why wouldn't regulators have to pre-approve this, like they did with Comcast/NBC, AOL/Time Warner? Is it simply because it's a "buyout" and not a "merger"?
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    When it's the difference between buyout or bankruptcy, the hand of regulators is kind of forced.

    I imagine that's how the case was presented to them, otherwise the merger looks like a regulatory nightmare.
     
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    alex182

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  • #39
    xuto":124ppyvc said:
    Any free market libertarians want to chime in here and remind all of us how free market is always good for the consumer? ... No? Or maybe you can explain to me how this actually IS good for consumers. I am always open to learning something new.
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    It's Trickle Down Economics - With Lime!

    Well, this is going to double my phone bill every month.. Grrr... :mad: :mad: :mad:
     
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