One of the big stories in the wireless phone service world recently is the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. This is huge news, because if the merger is approved, it would allow AT&T to surpass Verizon as the biggest carrier in the US.
Strategically this seems like a great move for AT&T, since it would allow them to expand their coverage with T-Mobile’s existing towers, as well as begin a faster rollout of 4G. There is another player in this game who is not so happy about this, and they’re being rather vocal about it.
Sprint has released a statement, published over at Mashable saying that if the merger is approved, the government would be allowing AT&T and Verizon to gain “duopoly control over the wireless market.” While this may be a somewhat valid point, the timing and manner of Sprint’s response makes it seem that they’re simply trying anything to keep from being pushed out of the wireless service game, since they’re currently in third place in terms of number of subscribers.
AT&T also issued their own statement, in response to Sprint’s, saying they will “focus on their own strategies for serving customers rather than being distracted by challenging the business strategies of others.”
I think this will be an interesting battle to watch unfold, and I believe only time will tell if this merger will be a good thing for the American consumer or not. Where do you stand?
Adam Shields says
When they first announced the deal, I saw a couple articles that suggested that ATT was buying Tmobile only because Sprint was interested. Not sure how true that is. I wouldn’t think that a Tmobile/Sprint company would be a very good match, but it would make 3 almost equal sized companies.
Chase Livingston says
I guess only time will tell. It seems that Sprint is just trying to produce a last ditch effort before being overtaken more than anything else.
JT says
I’d much rather see the smaller two companies merge than see AT&T get T-Mobile… I don’t really see how this can be good for the consumer either way, T-Mobile rates will go up for one.
Chase Livingston says
Yeah, I can definitely see that side of the story. As an AT&T customer, I would like to see better coverage in some areas, so I’m hoping this may be able to help that.
JT says
Could you not roam to T-Mobile before? If so, how does this really help you? Are there that many areas that T-Mobile is that AT&T’s not already?
I’m on Sprint but get the benefit of free roaming to Verizon.
Chase Livingston says
I’m not positive, but I don’t think I could roam for free to T-Mobile. From what I understand, T-Mobile is available in a lot of rural markets that AT&T isn’t. This doesn’t necessarily help me personally, but I’m a happy AT&T customer, so until they do something to make me feel otherwise, I’ll continue giving them my money 🙂