Holy Crap...AT&T is buying T-Mobile USA

[nate el bueno]

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/03/att-to-buy-t-mobile-usa/

Looks like Verizon is going to have to change their advertising angle...

[cruelpupet]

WTF didnt we break up ATT for good reasons back in the day?

[Chgoman]

I'm guessing it'll be approved because they'll argue there are still 3 big carriers and a bunch of regionals. What they need to do at this point is break up the banks...

[Thesifer]

Of course the first Wireless server that jumps on the new Antenna technology if it pans out will dominate. They won't be required to pay but minimal land lease amounts and can put antennas virtually anything. The little cube shaped one. I'm sure an easy Google search can find it, but it's late.

[nate el bueno]

Another interesting part to me is how their LTE networks will play out. Everyone likes to toot their horn about a different aspect: Verizon=coverage, AT&T=speed, ect.
The link also eludes to the fact that T-Mobile customers will finally be able to use an iPhone without jailbreaking it.

Thesifer, I'm not sure what cube thing you're talking about, but I've read about using weather balloon like antennas. They take up airspace rather than land and save a massive amount of money. They're also cheap (relatively) to maintain or simply replace.

[Thesifer]

Thesifer, I'm not sure what cube thing you're talking about, but I've read about using weather balloon like antennas. They take up airspace rather than land and save a massive amount of money. They're also cheap (relatively) to maintain or simply replace.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/08/alcatel-lucents-lightradio-shoves-a-base-station-in-a-box-mini/

[gwilks98]

Given ATT's recent stance on "no more unlimited usage" in both wireless and wired services, I see them buying up competition as a bad thing for the customer.

[bachviet]

I'll be porting our numbers out to Sprint or one of the MVNO carriers as soon as our contract is ended (by year end).

[Jeffbx]

WTF didnt we break up ATT for good reasons back in the day?

AT&T is like Terminator 3 - no matter how many times you break it apart, it forms itself back together over time.

I also agree this will be bad for the consumer - goodbye unlimited data for even more people!

[nate el bueno]

I read another article, I believe in wired.com about how AT&T is sending emails to people that have rooted their phones for the purpose of unlimited data saying that they are going to bill them for it.

[Napoleon54]

That sucks. I hear only good things about T-Mobile.

[Jeffbx]

I read another article, I believe in wired.com about how AT&T is sending emails to people that have rooted their phones for the purpose of unlimited data saying that they are going to bill them for it.

Yes - only for tethering. Here's AT&T's model right now:

I have an iPhone with unlimited data. It's jailbroken so I can tether it to my computer, which I do on (rare) occasion. I jailbroke it specifically for this reason, since tethering was not available through AT&T when I got the phone.

Today, tethering IS available! Hooray!
Oh, it costs extra for me to use it, even though it doesn't cost AT&T anything more to support it (I already have unlimited data, remember?) Grumble grumble, OK, I'll pay the extra.
Oh, just one last catch. If you want to sign up for a tethering plan, you MUST give up unlimited data and switch to a limited data plan. WTF?? FU, AT&T.

[Chgoman]

I still have AT&T for TV and internet, but I gave up the landline and went to Nettalk VOIP about 9 months ago and dropped AT&T for cell phones and went to Virgin Mobile a little over a month ago. I couldn't be happier! One by one they're loosing my business after about 10 years of being with them as they continue to jack up prices and reduce services.

[a-10tankkiller]

I was on the phone 30 minutes with ATT this morning asking why my phone had changed time zones overnight. I tried resetting to my time zone this morning after I realized it had changed, but it would still show off by 1 hour and then 2 hours. When I called, the rep had no clue. They had all ready replaced one phone in the first 6 months, as they said it was the phone not them.
I kept trying to reset it while on the phone this time, and sure enough after the 10th time or so after it rebooted again, everything was good. After I told the rep, she "oh yea, it shows we are working on the towers in your area and that was probably the problem". I asked why all of the sudden it is working and she said she just recieved a message that the work was completed. Ok, maybe, but with my overall experience i told I thought that was baloney. For the 1st 4 months I had to call to get bills corrected each month for charges that were wrong. Finally those stopped appearing. Never had those issues with Verizon.
All this for a 24% discount since the wife's employer uses ATT. Never thought I'd say 24% wasn't worth the headache.

[Napoleon54]

WTF didnt we break up ATT for good reasons back in the day?

AT&T is like Terminator 3 - no matter how many times you break it apart, it forms itself back together over time.

A Colbert Classic: http://consumerist.com/2011/03/flashback-to-2007-stephen-colbert-on-atts-formation.html

[Jeffbx]

Ha! We can probably roll that one out every 5 years or so.