AT&T bought T-Mobile us

[krazy]

And what, just because your an investor makes you more qualified to make that? I think a team of consultants on both companies that can to that choice are more understanding of it then all of us on these forums.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

Actually investor's opinions matter a lot.

They (investment bankers, consultants, etc) make money when deals get done. They don't get the 8 figure bonuses if deals don't get done. Let's hope those experts do better here than they did with Sprint/Nextel or Time Warner/AOL.

 

[Baconator]

Well there is a conference call tomorrow at 8am so we will see what will happen.

 

[PvilleComp]

I think Krazy has a point that this is a desperation move for AT&T to maintain relevance. In the long run AT&T will benefit with towers and backhaul infrastructure they can leverage. It's really the only merger deal that made sense.

Don't underestimate the strength of subscriber numbers. When brokering deals for everything from media licensing to network infrastructure, volume is everything. I saw this over and over when AT&T was #1 previously. Their sheer purchasing power opened doors that even VZW, at the time, had to fight to get open.

A Sprint/TMo deal was never going to happen. Sprint needs a third network architecture like a hole in the head. The Nextel merger was a joke. They should have asked for the leases/deeds on the towers and a list of subscribers they could send CDMA phones to and called that merger done. IDEN is a nightmare.

Let’s not forget that this deal also gets rid of a thorn in the Fed’s side, a majority ownership of a US carrier by a non US company. The Fed’s had TMo so bound up in regulatory restraints that they were hampered in what they could do in the market.

I was shocked when I read the news, but it’s the deal that makes the most sense.

 

[krazy]

Regardless of what you think of the merger, lots of good/interesting info here:

AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom

 

[Baconator]

Seems like Sprint doesn't like this idea at all. Here is what they have to say.

The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile USA, if approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), would alter dramatically the structure of the communications industry. AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would be almost three times the size of Sprint, the third largest wireless competitor. If approved, the merger would result in a wireless industry dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically-integrated companies that control almost 80% of the US wireless post-paid market, as well as the availability and price of key inputs such as backhaul and access needed by other wireless companies to compete. The DOJ and the FCC must decide if this transaction is in the best interest of consumers and the US economy overall, and determine if innovation and robust competition would be impacted adversely and by this dramatic change in the structure of the industry.

 

[Tank076]

Within the next 6 months sprint will be bought by verizon just wait and see and the it will be a race for gsm vs cdma and who can be the best

 

[stray]

Does this mean better at&t coverage in NYC yet?

Kind of hope in a way this pushes the feds hands as far as treating cell carriers more like public utilities. Having 2 competing and incompatible LTE networks seems silly in the grand scheme, especially when the goal is blanket coverage. Of course then you've got to wonder what happens to WiMax...

 

[PvilleComp]

Seems like Sprint doesn't like this idea at all. Here is what they have to say.

That's the funniest thing I've read all day! Thanks Baconator!

And to some extent they are correct. But I'm willing to bet the DOJ would love to get Dutsche Telekom out of their hair more then they want to apease Sprint.

 

[Baconator]

And to some extent they are correct. But I'm willing to bet the DOJ would love to get Dutsche Telekom out of their hair more then they want to apease Sprint.

Exactly what I was thinking. They don't want a non-US company running a wireless company in the US.

 

[Droid800]

I don't think VZW is buying them any time soon.

I think a Verizon purchase of Sprint is inevitable. Sprint has very valuable spectrum, and an existing network of towers that would give Verizon's already strong network an even bigger footprint.

Sprint has already announced that the iDen network will be shutdown, freeing up spectrum on the 800mhz band. THAT will be used for the inevitable switch to LTE. (and the 'coincidence' of sprint's announcement timing on its shutdown of iDEN and a forthcoming decision on LTE was nothing of the sort)

Verizon will buy sprint for one reason and one reason only; their spectrum. The infrastructure they'll gain will be nice and all, but they'll want the spectrum to support the final switchover to LTE.

 

[splmonster]

As far as the government is going to be concerned, as long as there are other CELL PHONE carriers out there, they will not care how many are GSM or CDMA carriers. Besides, Verizon is making the switch over to GSM too, so once they are done with that, it will be back to 2 GSM carriers again.

Where did you hear VZW was switching to GSM? Cause they aren't...

 

[igotsanevo4g]

I'm a current TMO customer and have been eligible for an upgrade since November. I've always been a Blackberry user, and have been on the verge of switching to Android. I've been waiting for a device to my liking to come out.

With this current merger on the horizon, should I upgrade immediately, so I'll be eligible again shortly after the merger takes place, or should I sit it out a few more months?

Anyone see any reason to either upgrade NOW, or to sit it out a couple more months?

Upgrade now to a nexus s, something tells me Google wont leave nexus users in the cold if something bad is to happen in the future when it comes to hardware.

 

[Baconator]

Where did you hear VZW was switching to GSM? Cause they aren't...

LTE is a GSM technology

 

[Guamguy]

LTE is a GSM technology

LTE is not a GSM technology.

And surprise surprise, neither is UMTS/W-CDMA/HSPA.

Both are separate technologies from GSM. The only commonality they have with GSM is they're adopted by the same companies that backed GSM. Technically, LTE and UMTS is a lot closer to CDMA in technological principle.

 

[Droid800]

LTE is not a GSM technology.

And surprise surprise, neither is UMTS/W-CDMA/HSPA.

Both are separate technologies from GSM. The only commonality they have with GSM is they're adopted by the same companies that backed GSM. Technically, LTE and UMTS is a lot closer to CDMA in technological principle.

You are incorrect. The technology behind LTE is descended directly from GSM. LTE's creation was directed by the 3GPP, which is an organization dealing wholly in specs that are evolved from the GSM specification. UMTS was 3GPP release 99, HSDPA and HSPA+ are 3GPP releases 5 and 7, and LTE is 3GPP release 8.

So yes, Verizon is switching to GSM in a manner of speaking.

 

[Guamguy]

There are three forms of Multiple Access:

TDMA -
CDMA
FDMA .

These -MAs are principles in which the sender and caller have access to the network.

You can do it by Time slots (TDMA),
by having a different frequency for each (FDMA)
or by coding each separately (CDMA).

GSM works on TDMA principles.

UMTS (also known as W-CDMA) with CDMA principles.

Governing bodies have nothing to do with it. Its just sharing the same politics body. It has nothing to do with the fundamental theory of governing multiple access.

LTE uses OFDMA which is a very different technology from the above, Its entirely a different technology from GSM, though it uses CDMA, TDMA and FDMA principles. They just have the same politics body and patent holder companies developing it.

 

[krazy]

Within the next 6 months sprint will be bought by verizon just wait and see and the it will be a race for gsm vs cdma and who can be the best

It's possible but unlikely. VZ already won the 3g battle and Sprint offers little in the way of helping to win the 4g war relative to the costs.

 

[Duvi]

If Sprint would have purchased T-mobile, it would have been Sprint-Nextel all over again. How and why (if true,) were they planning to purchase T-mobile and make both networks compatible? Sprint is CDMA/WiMax while T-mobile is GSM. Look at the disaster for phones they have on Sprint that is supposedly using the walkie talkie from Nextel, but voice and data from Sprint.

AT&T and T-mobile are both GSM and it would be easier to make a device with all 3 of the 3G bands (2 from AT&T and 1 from Tmo).

Sprint is sour now. Lol.

 

[krazy]

I think a Verizon purchase of Sprint is inevitable. Sprint has very valuable spectrum, and an existing network of towers that would give Verizon's already strong network an even bigger footprint.

Sprint has already announced that the iDen network will be shutdown, freeing up spectrum on the 800mhz band. THAT will be used for the inevitable switch to LTE. (and the 'coincidence' of sprint's announcement timing on its shutdown of iDEN and a forthcoming decision on LTE was nothing of the sort)

Verizon will buy sprint for one reason and one reason only; their spectrum. The infrastructure they'll gain will be nice and all, but they'll want the spectrum to support the final switchover to LTE.

That would be extremely expensive spectrum at this point. However, when S gets even cheaper, which they will, it could make sense although more spectrum will also eventually be auction. I guess S better hope that's a ways off.

 

[fireshot91]

I haven't really read through all of this thread, but, I do have a question or two:



Would the phones now on T-Mobile, once the merge completes, be available on the AT&T network?