You obviously didn't bother to read most of the comments. Regardless of how this merger turned out, T-Mobile is going away and you will be down to three major carriers.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AT&T Gives Up on T-Mobile Acquisition
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You obviously didn't bother to read most of the comments. Regardless of how this merger turned out, T-Mobile is going away and you will be down to three major carriers.
Oh please... AT&T has dragged its feet for years improving the network. From their history, there's NO indicator there would have been any improvement. Limited spectrum problems coming up NOW doesn't explain the issues that have existed for years without much improvement - if any.
People don't hate corporations, they hate AT&T. Even Apple mocked AT&T what, a couple years ago at one of the major press / release events, remember? I resent paying a premium and not getting service nor coverage worthy of the extra money I spend. That's the crux of it. If AT&T had MADE any improvements you might see less opposition. Instead, they are their own worst enemy.
Please don't dismiss legitimate issues by equating with anti-Corporate bias
Just because the chipset can support the band doesn't mean that every single phone with that chipset has the AWS band. The X-Gold 618 in the iPhone 4 also supported the AWS band. The issue is, the hardware itself isn't configured for 1700MHz. The antenna just can't tune to that frequency (it goes a little beyond that, but I don't want to get in detail). Similarly, the bluetooth module on the iPhone supports FM radio, but it can't recieve it due to not having an appropriate antenna.
Indeed. The user you post implies that Apple wanted the deal to go through out of sheer greed. It doesnt float. Apple makes money by selling phones no matter the carrier. They just never bothered to support T-Mobile on any level in the first place. Apple never supported T-Mobile over the past few years. They never had a business agreement before, why bother supporting it now without an agreement now?
Chipsets being sold today have tons of features supported. But just because you buy the board with certain features disabled, doesnt imply much of any sort other than they purchased a component with the features they needed. Heck, often times its cheaper to buy them that way.
Outrageous Claim
T-mobile has never made an operating loss in any of the quarters. They used to have their reports on-line but when they applied for merger they removed it. That said Deutsche Telekom has never reported a loss from its US investment. It has plowed in a lot of money and wants it back to invest in Europe. It never wanted out of the US market. It was going to own some 8% of the merged AT&T.
Additionally because the US wireless market was already so concentrated Apple could easily sign a 3 year exclusive deal with AT&T and later Verizon came on board. Lack of an iPhone contributed to much of the decline in T-mobile's user base. Recall, for the last 5 years every year AT&T came last in the JD Power Associates consumer survey and yet they grew thanks to the iPhone. T-mobile was top ranked for last several years but dropped out recently in the very same survey. Most who left T-mobile did so not because they were the cheapest or because their signal was worse than AT&T, but because the company was never able to provide the latest devices.
T-mobile has never made an operating loss in any of the quarters. They used to have their reports on-line but when they applied for merger they removed it. That said Deutsche Telekom has never reported a loss from its US investment. It has plowed in a lot of money and wants it back to invest in Europe. It never wanted out of the US market. It was going to own some 8% of the merged AT&T.
Additionally because the US wireless market was already so concentrated Apple could easily sign a 3 year exclusive deal with AT&T and later Verizon came on board. Lack of an iPhone contributed to much of the decline in T-mobile's user base. Recall, for the last 5 years every year AT&T came last in the JD Power Associates consumer survey and yet they grew thanks to the iPhone. T-mobile was top ranked for last several years but dropped out recently in the very same survey. Most who left T-mobile did so not because they were the cheapest or because their signal was worse than AT&T, but because the company was never able to provide the latest devices.
In the UK all networks run on the same technology. It just makes it so much easier. Dont have to worry about if your phone will support you network, you can switch networks within the space of a day including a number transfer.
Sprint committed 6 billion over three years. Apple required that to commit to Sprint's platform. T-Mobile wasn't going to make a billion dollar commitment when it wasn't planning on existing in less than year. Consequently, Apple didn't invest the money to add the antennae needed to make the phone work on T-Moble's high speed network.
As far as DT not wanting to invest money in T-Mobile, I can't find anything that says that. Point me to that information from DT. The reality is since the deal is off T-Mobile USA is 1) repurposing spectrum to make its 3G compatible with the iPhone, 2) is planning selling unneeded towers to raise money for high speed spectrum, and 3) just acquired the right to use spectrum from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone.
Moreover, T-Mobile is profitable, and grew its subscriber base by 126, 000 all when some subscribers were leaving thinking T-Mobile was going to be acquired by AT&T.
Report back here when the T-Mobile has the iPhone within a year.
LOL. That is funny. T-Mobile made over a billion dollars this year in profit. It already is planning for the iPhone. It recently repositioned some of its spectrum to make it compatible with the iPhone's 3G antennae. AT&T recently gave it access to iPhone compatible 3G spectrum. It is selling unneeded towers to raise money to buy more spectrum.
----------
It still does.
Seeing you are to lazy to find it yourself
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204791104577110060167047168.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/19/us-att-t-mobile-idUSTRE7BI1YZ20111219
AT&T had said it urgently needed to buy T-Mobile USA to help overcome a spectrum shortage, while Deutsche Telekom saw it as a way to exit the U.S. market to focus on its European operations.
Deutsche Telekom said on Monday it would return to reporting T-Mobile USA as part of its continuing operations and that its group forecast for 2011 of expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of around 19.1 billion euros ($24.86 billion) would be unchanged.
"It's a bigger blow to Deutsche Telekom in that they were getting a good price for that mobile asset and I don't' think there's an alternative that's nearly as good for them," Clement said.
Deutsche Telekom had planned to use the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt, launch a 5 billion euro ($6.51 billion)share buyback program, and step up investments at home and in Europe.
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, which advised T-Mobile, and AT&T's banks, which included Greenhill, Evercore and JPMorgan, stand to lose a total of $150 million in fees, according to earlier estimates from ThomsonReuters/Freeman Consulting.
T-Mobile USA is going away no matter what you think....
Last edited:
You need a quote to figure out how redundancy will result in eliminating jobs? You need a quote to see that an only unlimited texting option forces light texters into a pricey plan? You need a quote to see that only having two major carriers that price match eachother wold result in higher fees?
Why do I need to source common sense? AT&T does all these things and claims its for the good of the consumer. They blatantly lie and have no shame doing so.
T-Mobile merged with Orange in the UK and that reduced competition and they made their stores much nicer. Why was everyone in the USA against this?
Wireless service (contracts, plans, etc.) all work a lot differently in the UK and throughout all of Europe as well. You Europeans forget that most of our states are larger than your countries. It's very different here. You can have 1 company covering several countries which is why you see more compatibility and flexibility in things (like disposable SIM cards). Here, we border Canada... but US services magically vanish once you step across the borders. You then have different companies, plans, etc. That would be chaos in Europe if you had different providers in every country, etc.
This can also be said about Sprint for the most part... TMobile isn't bleeding customers as much as they are growing prepaid customers and losing contract customers. With TMobile, a big part of that is their own marketing. TMobile really needs to invest in their network to compete...
Interestingly, Dish Network purchased a ton of wireless spectrum and is very interested in a partnership with them. I really think T-Mobile never thought this merger would go through, knew they'd get a big pay off, and have other options later. (Note, AT&T was the one with the blazing guns through all this... T-Mobile was very quiet on there end.) T-Mobile could do well with a partnership with Dish... it would give them a ton of spectrum. Dish might also infuse some cash into the company to grow the network. Really, what is the only problem with T-Mobile outside of coverage? If you ever hear someone dismiss the idea of signing with them, it's not their plans, or phones, or customer service... it's always the coverage. (Same I guess could be said for Sprint now that they have secured a decent phone line up for the first time ever). I think this will all work out well for T-Mobile in the end.
I also think the merger hurt them... A lot of people were afraid to sign with them in fears of being pushed of as an AT&T customer (even though they'd be safe for the duration of a contract).
I wish T-Mobile well. AT&T can suck it. If it wasn't for spotty coverage where I live, I'd totally switch to TMobile and save close to $500 a year.
----------
And that was a very uneducated comment.
Who says they are going away? DT has said they won't invest in TMobile USA further... meaning, they aren't willing to spend money on acquisitions of smaller carriers to grow their network, or invest money to grow the network via internal expansions. They have never said they are going to shut down the company.
TMobile is a very attractive company. Despite it's network issues, it does have a good number of customers, and has become a big player in pre-paid services.
They also just got $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum for free. They have to do something with that money... and they could even use that to expand their network. There are also the prospects of them using that money to buy a region player, and other smaller companies have already expressed interest in a merger with them. Even Dish Network is feverishly now taking a stab at partnering with them for spectrum and willing to invest in the company.
This is probably the best thing that ever happened to them. Might TMobile in the future have a new name and owner? Possibly... but that's still not eliminating them as the fourth carrier in the national market place. If anything, this should make them a better contender no matter who owns them or what name is on their buildings.
They lie about making decisions that benefit consumers. I don't care if you're a business or the guy down the street, be straightforward. You may expect AT&T to profit at the cost of honesty and integrity, but I believe they can profit without being scumbags and insulting their customers.
Oh my, that's quite a set of unfounded allegations.
I've received nothing but excellent customer service, great call quality & connectivity when using a suitable phone. Not once in twelve years and well over 30 different phones (not counting iPhones) have I had a problem. That includes usage when traveling internationally.
I do understand it's highly popular to bash AT&T based on questionable data, but I have consistently enjoyed trouble free service. Just because they've not won the popularity contest, is completely irrelevant.
I never mentioned their service at all. Their service is fine. They lie about the decisions they make. That's the problem.
I'll give you one, vitzr:
Check out the pricing for gps locating of your phones, which is already automatically done and costs them nothing. They now call it Family Map. Verizon is even worse on this.
Apple and Android offer it free.
(well, not sure if it is gps or some combination of tower triangulation)
Check out the pricing for gps locating of your phones, which is already automatically done and costs them nothing. They now call it Family Map. Verizon is even worse on this.
Apple and Android offer it free.
(well, not sure if it is gps or some combination of tower triangulation)
My service hasnt improved in 3-4 years.
So, why would i expect it to improve whether this acquisition went through or not? It won't nor would it if the feds hadnt saved us
----------
The popularity contest is a contest that unhappy customers continue voting on so it it not just irrelevant but quite important for new and current customers
I hear this "It's cool to bash AT&T" line by some yet when you browse this forum, other forums, or just about any tech blog/forum....you see so many AT&T issues that it becomes quite clear that people aren't just bashing AT&T for the hell of it...they are ACTUALLY HAVING ISSUES
My goodness, just look at the last week of posts here....I mean, where do you get the idea that people are just stating things just to be "cool"?
Generally those who have issues are the people that bought iPhones when AT&T had the exclusive contract. People who lived outside AT&T's coverage areas & didn't bother to check the coverage maps. That's the customers problem.
It's also a very short sighted move by Apple. But they did it because AT&T was the only carrier that was willing to take the risk with Apple from day one.
Those like myself that have been with AT&T's excellent network, before, during & after Apples exclusive have enjoyed terrific service.
It's a simple as that. A fact that seems to escape those who are in denial.
I'm not advocating for AT&T, I really don't care. I use Verizon as well and find both ideal for my needs & that's all I care about.
Knowing the truth sets you free
Generally those who have issues are the people that bought iPhones when AT&T had the exclusive contract. People who lived outside AT&T's coverage areas & didn't bother to check the coverage maps. That's the customers problem.
It's also a very short sighted move by Apple. But they did it because AT&T was the only carrier that was willing to take the risk with Apple from day one.
Those like myself that have been with AT&T's excellent network, before, during & after Apples exclusive have enjoyed terrific service.
It's a simple as that. A fact that seems to escape those who are in denial.
I'm not advocating for AT&T, I really don't care. I use Verizon as well and find both ideal for my needs & that's all I care about.
Knowing the truth sets you free
The truth to you, barring any reference to all of the customer surveys done that communicate very clearly that AT&T sucks. Although they work well for me as well, I am not the only person in the world. And neither are you.
Besides that, and back to my original and more important point, they lie and insult their customers. Clearing out texting plans for anyone looking to spend less than what an unlimited texting plan costs, pretending an acquisition that would produce redundant positions and obviously result in job loss is good for customers, and trying to position themselves to price fix with Verizon and claim it's good for customers are all obviously blatant lies.
You happen to live under a rock before the iPhone existed? Notice the millions having issues before the iPhone? And on other devices? The idea that just those complaining are the exclusive people is laughable.
My goodness, when AT&T was near last for years before the iPhone in just about every customer service, are those results...ignored?
Well no, because very few if any complaining are not in coverage areas not actually covered. Most issues here come from either big cities or outside them.
Ah, so because you have great service, others must have the same. Brilliant logic.
AT&T continues ranking dead last in just about every customer survery, they continue having thousands of posts across this forum, other forums, and just about every tech site....But hey, because you have good service, those people MUST be crazy!
Whether it is you trying to say that those who have issues are not in coverage areas or those with issues are just the exclusive group....it shows how little of any argument you have