AT&T Gives Up on T-Mobile Acquisition

[rjohnstone]

If I understand this bit, since it is tax deductible, guess who picks up part of the tab for this little debacle.

Don't I love paying for corporate *****k-ups.

The answer... nobody.
Well AT&T customers maybe, but not taxpayers if that's what you're implying.

 

[TMar]

Invest how?

After buying T-Mobile... AT&T would have 10,000 new towers and more spectrum. That seems like a good investment.

AT&T wasn't buying T-Mobile just for their customer list, right?

Ding Ding we have a winner.

 

[Consultant]

Must be why T-Mobile is spending money on its sour grapes / no iPhone campaign again.

 

[TMar]

The answer... nobody.
Well AT&T customers maybe, but not taxpayers if that's what you're implying.

Except for the part where their break-up cost is fully tax deductible?

 

[0dev]

Not bad. The very low minutes would be a problem for me though. I get Unlimited Minutes, Texts and Data (no fair usage), plus an extra microsim for the iPad (again, no fair usage) for £10 /mo from T-Mobile, not fixed into a long term contract either. Been with them for about 5 years now...never had any problems and get the full 7.2mbps connection to my phone and iPad. Very happy

Good deal, but the payback is what makes giffgaff the best. I get paid to use the network (making profit if you deduct my £10 a month) by using the forums and getting activations. So I basically pay nothing a month if you factor in the payback

 

[Amazing Iceman]

AT&T is terrible and expensive, that would have the same effect on current T-Mobile users, besides, less competition is not a good thing for the consumer. No matter how blunt of a jerk statement AT&***** makes. They are way too big of a company and imo should just leave the cell industry because the whole world would benefit.

Dude, you must have serious issues with AT&T.
I know, they are expensive, and I have T-Mobile and pay a lot less for an Unlimited Plan, but there are times when I hate T-Mobile for having bad signal while traveling, and also for not supporting 3G for the iPhone (by using some odd spectrum range).

I'm not sure if these news will make me laugh or cry. I just hope T-Mobile U.S.A. doesn't go down.

 

[dashiel]

T-Mobile USA isn't going broke, are they?

They are.

Perhaps we will also see T-Mobile's fortunes change somewhat if they can get enough infrastructure in place to handle 3G iPhones.

They can’t. More importantly they need the actual iPhone to compete, not just the spectrum to support it. The market for people willing to shell out $700 on a phone is very small. Also keeps T-Mobile from locking customers in to long contracts which is what they need.

 

[wordoflife]

Oh hell yeah.

 

[rjlawrencejr]

Invest how?

After buying T-Mobile... AT&T would have 10,000 new towers and more spectrum. That seems like a good investment.

AT&T wasn't buying T-Mobile just for their customer list, right?

Well, if all AT&T wanted was access to T-Mobile's 10,000 towers, they could have accomplished that with a reciprocal agreement. Of course AT&T would never have wanted that since it would have actually led to increased competition.

 

[rjohnstone]

Except for the part where their break-up cost is fully tax deductible?

How is that any different than any other company who writes off business expenses?
That is what this deduction is... a business expense.
Also, it's not fully tax deductible and the taxpayer is not on the hook for the difference.

 

[powers74]

It's what helps keep prices down.

... Sort of.

 

[JAT]

Why would reducing competition be a good thing? It's what helps keep prices down.

Are you under the impression that USA cellphone plan pricing is "down"? That adage has not worked in this industry in this country. At all.

All I can say is good luck to DISH.
They suck as a satellite provider, doubt they will do any better as a wireless carrier.

What's wrong with Dish?

 

[rmwebs]

Good deal, but the payback is what makes giffgaff the best. I get paid to use the network (making profit if you deduct my £10 a month) by using the forums and getting activations. So I basically pay nothing a month if you factor in the payback

I suppose it works out as a pretty sweet deal if you've got the time. Unfortunately not something a lot of people have these days.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Well, if all AT&T wanted was access to T-Mobile's 10,0000 towers, they could have accomplished that with a reciprocal agreement. Of course AT&T would never have wanted that since it would have actually led to increased competition.

Maybe... but AT&T wants to deploy LTE... and they would probably need to own those towers to start installing all new transmitters. I don't know how it works.

Some big cities won't allow any new towers to be built. If that's the case... using existing towers is the only way.

Hell... maybe AT&T will make a new offer to just use some of T-Mobile's towers now.

Or else pick them up in a fire sale

I mean... if T-Mobile USA is indeed in bad shape... AT&T might be able to pick them up even cheaper than before!

 

[rjohnstone]

A
What's wrong with Dish?

Where would you like me to start.
Horrible channel selection/packages, terrible customer service, nickle and dime you for every feature.
I switched to DirecTV and the prices are similar to DISH. (I pay $5 per month higher in price than what I was paying when I had DISH), bu I have far better choices and their customer service has been fantastic.

 

[0dev]

I suppose it works out as a pretty sweet deal if you've got the time. Unfortunately not something a lot of people have these days.

If you've got time to post in this forum, why won't you have time to post in theirs? Especially if they're paying you for it?

And if you give out your affiliate link or give out sims linked to your account to friends and family, and they activate them, you get a fiver. There are even people who go down to markets on weekends, give sims out, and actually get thousands of pounds per payback period.

 

[TMar]

How is that any different than any other company who writes off business expenses?
That is what this deduction is... a business expense.
Also, it's not fully tax deductible and the taxpayer is not on the hook for the difference.

The problem is that businesses have far to many deductible expenses and has more to do with the financial backing of political officials but that's a whole different topic. In the end more of Joe taxpayer's tax $'s are going to cover the costs of excessive corporate deductions and more cuts in budgets. This tax deduction could have been used to re-pave a few roads...

 

[Plutonius]

YESSSS!!!!!
I don't think anyone liked this idea.

No matter if you were for it or against it doesn't change the fact that T-Mobile will be going away sometime. The parent company of T-Mobile (USA) has been losing money / customers and has said they are getting rid of the company. Since AT+T is out, either Sprint will buy the company or the T-Mobile assets will be sold off at fire sale prices. I'm not a T-Mobile shareholder but I'm sure that most of T-Mobile shareholders are not happy since they are now likely to get very little for their shares. I currently like and subscribe to T-Mobile but I recognize it's on its way out.

 

[KPOM]

I'm mixed about this. It isn't as if T-Mobile is going to survive very long as an independent company, or that they will invest any more in their network. No other wireless carrier could swallow them whole. Verizon would have the same anti-trust issues, and Sprint would have difficulty integrating T-Mobile into their network. The regional carriers could acquire only pieces, and its doubtful that a cable or satellite company would be any better than AT&T at actually running T-Mobile or keeping its competitive rates. The AT&T deal wasn't great, but there could have been other measures (asset sales, forced interoperability between Verizon and AT&T on their 700MHz 4G networks) to allay antitrust concerns.

In the meantime, AT&T still needs spectrum if it's ever going to improve its network. A roaming deal won't do as much as a full merger would have. Hopefully T-Mobile will strike a deal to be included in the next iPhone release (Apple would need to include a penta-band 3G chip). If they do, and they include HSPA+ 21 or 42, then an unlocked iPhone 5 may well be an attractive proposition.

 

[rjlawrencejr]

Maybe... but AT&T wants to deploy LTE... and they would probably need to own those towers to start installing all new transmitters. I don't know how it works.

Some big cities won't allow any new towers to be built. If that's the case... using existing towers is the only way.

Hell... maybe AT&T will make a new offer to just use some of T-Mobile's towers now.

Or else pick them up in a fire sale

I mean... if T-Mobile USA is indeed in bad shape... AT&T might be able to pick them up even cheaper than before!

I don't know how it works either, but I have to believe the consumer would not have benefited from an all-out merger.

The irony is that I distinctly remember T-Mobile and Cingular having reciprocal agreements in some parts of the country when T-Mobile first hit the scene back in 2002.

You could be right that this will make it harder for AT&T to roll out the next generation of wireless services, but I still believe another type of agreement could have been reached without decimating a competitor.

 

[macjoshua]

i don't really understand the animosity toward at&t. t-mobile is going to be bought out at some point, and at&t makes the most sense in terms of compatible technology.

at&t and verizon are pretty much the same in terms of price, and depending on where you live, coverage pretty much dictates which one you'd choose. sprint is awful about everywhere (based on my experience and others i've known). t-mobile will be bought out by someone or go bankrupt, so they're really not worth the risk, in my opinion.

why is at&t the recipient of so much hatred when compared to the other companies?

 

[iMikeT]

Very glad to hear this news. However, I am still sad that the taxpayer is still paying for this as the fee that AT&T is giving to T-Mobile is tax deductible. No matter how you look at it, we still get screwed in some way.

 

[tasset]

i don't really understand the animosity toward at&t. t-mobile is going to be bought out at some point, and at&t makes the most sense in terms of compatible technology.

at&t and verizon are pretty much the same in terms of price, and depending on where you live, coverage pretty much dictates which one you'd choose. sprint is awful about everywhere (based on my experience and others i've known). t-mobile will be bought out by someone or go bankrupt, so they're really not worth the risk, in my opinion.

why is at&t the recipient of so much hatred when compared to the other companies?

Fair or not, the wound is deep in people's memory of AT&T's legacy- their monopolistic behavior. It's well documented how their landline business harmed people, crushed competitors, and made a public necessity (communications) an overbearing expense. And when the government broke them up, there was a wave of innovation and competitive pricing. History is not lost on those who remember.

 

[KPOM]

I don't know how it works either, but I have to believe the consumer would not have benefited from an all-out merger.

The irony is that I distinctly remember T-Mobile and Cingular having reciprocal agreements in some parts of the country when T-Mobile first hit the scene back in 2002.

They did, but that was on their 2G network. Cingular had the older TDMA 2G technology while Voicestream (which Deutsche Telecom acquired and renamed T-Mobile in 2001) actually had a larger, more developed GSM/EDGE network back then. Once Cingular acquired AT&T Wireless, they no longer needed T-Mobile's 2G network. Cingular also did a better job of building out 3G.

 

[burnside]

$1.5-$1.8 billion? Eeek! That's a hefty restocking fee!!!