Two recent but very different T-Mobile articles

[ArmyMom]

An article today on Businessweek.com

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...20930_3742.htm
from the above article:
For DT, which acquired VoiceStream in mid-2000 for $50.7 billion, the end game could be crucial to its own future. In the first half of 2002, DT lost $3 billion, excluding
special items. It has $63 billion in debt. To get reach its goal of cutting debt to $49 billion by yearend 2003, DT may have no choice but to sell the unit, say many analysts. With the new brand, "they might be dressing up the company for sale," says Andrew Cole, an analyst with wireless consultancy Adventis. Among the potential buyers: Cingular or AT&T Wireless. DT declined to comment on the speculation.


And earlier this month...
http://www.telecom.paper.nl/site/new...d=19808&nr=290

Merger T-Mobile USA, Cingular Wireless near 08:29 Friday September 6, 2002, Telecom.paper
VoiceStream, recently rebranded to T-Mobile USA, and Cingular Wireless, the second-largest mobile operator in the US, are close to agreeing the size of stakes they would hold if the two businesses merged, the Financial Times reported. A possible deal however, is being delayed as Deutsche Telekom is looking for greater control over the merged entity, the report said. The German telecom giant has been exploring merger options for its US mobile unit as a means of cutting its EUR 64 billion debt. If the transaction goes through, Deutsche Telekom will transfer a part of its debt burden to the new business. People close to the transaction said if the problems are resolved, a deal could be struck late next month.

??????

[johndoe]

Are you sure because Cingular just reported debt of 12 billion dollars

[ArmyMom]

I'm not sure of anything I read any more! But here's a full Financial Times article from Sept 6. I'm looking for more.

FRONT PAGE - COMPANIES & MARKETS: VoiceStream-Cingular merger moves closer
By Robert Budden in London and Bertrand Benoit in Frankfurt
Financial Times; Sep 06, 2002


VoiceStream, Deutsche Telekom's US mobile arm, and Cingular Wireless, the second largest mobile operator in the US, are close to agreeing the size of stakes they would hold if the two businesses merged.

However, a possible deal is being delayed as Deutsche Telekom seeks greater control over the merged entity.

The German telecommunications operator has been exploring merger options for its US mobile arm as a means of cutting its â?¬64bn ($63.5bn) debt. If the deal goes through, Deutsche Telekom will transfer a part of its debt burden to the new business.

Analysts said Deutsche Telekom could be expected to offload â?¬4bn-â?¬5bn of debt and still keep a small stake in the merged business. Deutsche Telekom is seeking improved terms over when it could sell its holding.

It also has concerns over other issues such as proposed "anti-dilutive rights". The company wants improved rights to prevent its stake being heavily diluted should new shares be issued.

People close to the deal said that if the problems were resolved, a deal could be struck late next month, allowing a proposal to be put to Deutsche Telekom's board. A deal could be approved before the expected appointment in November of a new chief executive.

A person close to Deutsche Telekom's management, however, cautioned that Helmut Sihler, interim CEO, had yet to make a decision on VoiceStream's future. "There is a world of difference between what the investment banks may agree and what the management will decide," the person said.

He said retaining VoiceStream might prove the most attractive best option as the unit was the group's fastest growing business. Deutsche Telekom's debt could be cut by reducing its 80 per cent stake in T-Online, the internet service provider, to just over 50 per cent.

Mr Sihler, Karl-Gerhard Eick, finance director, and Kai-Uwe Ricke, head of T-Mobile, have held meetings with German, US, and UK investors over the past fortnight, insisting their minds were still open on VoiceStream's future.

A person who attended one of the meetings said: "Sihler ruled out an outright sale, saying the decision between a stand-alone option and a merger would be made in November. He certainly did not speak like a man who had made up his mind."

Most analysts believe Deutsche Telekom would need to make a rights issue to reach its target of cutting net debt from â?¬64.2bn at end of June to â?¬50bn by the end of next year if it chose not to sell VoiceStream.

Additional reporting by Peter Thal Larsen in New York .................................................. ............. www.ft.com/telecoms

[ArmyMom]

and another that mentions Cingular, T-Mobile/VoiceStream, and even AT&T....From September 13

COMPANIES & FINANCE THE AMERICAS: FCC decision opens door to wireless deals
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in London and Peter Spiegel in,Washington
Financial Times; Sep 13, 2002


Mergers between the leading US wireless companies came a step closer to being realised yesterday, as the telecommunications regulator was preparing to free the companies of more than $16bn in payment obligations related to a disputed wireless licence auction.

A decision expected by the Federal Communications Commission to allow the companies to opt out of the hotly disputed 2001 auction results could prompt an acceleration of merger talks between the largest mobile phone operators.

The groups, which would be unburdened of payments to the US Treasury of more than $16bn for licences now considered worth only a fraction of that amount, would still be desperately short of the spectrum they need to expand and improve mobile phone service across the largest cities in the US.

It is a problem consolidation would solve.

Cingular Wireless has already been touted as a merger partner for Voice- Stream, though the group may face a challenge in its bid from AT&T Wireless, which is also poised for a large takeover.

The surrender by the FCC would also mark the end to months of legal disputes between the regulator and the companies, and would represent yet another blow to Michael Powell, FCC chairman.

The furore over the problematic "Auction 35" began last year, after a dispute between the FCC and Next-Wave, the bankrupt telecoms start-up. The licences, which the regulator had auctioned off, are out of commission after NextWave claimed legal rights to them.

Verizon Wireless, which pledged to pay more than $8.7bn for the licences, along with other companies that had bid top dollar for the rights during the last months of the telecoms boom, continued to be held to their bids even as the telecoms market crashed around them. "The companies have had to keep the money in their reserves the entire time. It stopped them from upgrading their services and from looking for acquisition partners," said Rudy Baca, wireless analyst at the Precursor Group.

Mr Baca said the move by the FCC, and forthcoming elections in Germany, would serve as a catalyst for talks between Cingular and VoiceStream, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom, to move forward.

"Once a deal gets announced, then a second deal will come very quickly, because the companies are going to want more than one deal under review by the

Department of Justice. This opens up access to lines of credit, which would otherwise be held up in pending litigation," Mr Baca said.

But while the development releases Verizon Wireless and others out of their obligations, it does not end the dispute between the FCC and NextWave, or answer any questions about who owns the rights to the licences.

"The FCC has so much egg over its body, it cannot possibly get any worse. This is the three stooges making wireless policy," said Mr Baca.

The regulator is understood to have made its decision after Democratic Senator John Kerry introduced legislation last month to relieve the wireless providers of their debt obligations.

The legislation, which was gaining momentum, essentially forced Mr Powell's hand in the matter, according to people following the process.

[aiwapro]

Hopefully, T-Mobile will find another way to pay off some of their debt, becuase it would be a big loss in the long-run. I mean T-Mobile is getting big. They have no way to go, but up.

[RITMarketer]

I don't know, my manager just told me to expect a couple to stop in wanting to reactivate with us because they switched to T-mobile a week ago and are on their way back. I think having a T-mobile across the hall from my store has been really good. They do all sorts of advertising, bring people in. After the people see the map or return the phone a few weeks later, Cingular is within eyeshot of the store and they come to see me.

I'm actually not trying to bash T-mobile, but really, this has been happening a lot at the store I'm at right now.

Pat

[CaliphoniaBoy]

Pat,

are you in NYC or upstate... i.e., is Cingular GSM or TDMA in your area?

C.

[Airb330]

I'd like DT/TM accquire Cingular, fix their crappy CS and service problems and unite their network into one technology!

[Damian7132]

Ok let me start by saying to john doe i know this might be a surprise to you but no company is debt free .Infact debt in and of itself is not bad its when your debt is so insermountable that your crediters lose confidence in you that things go to hell.Finally i know that everyone on this forum seems to be a big supporter of voicestream/T-moblie and its customer service ability but hate to be the bearer of bad news but for everyone of you that likes something there are people that hate it.But once again that is life in big buisness no one is innocent no company is going to forsake what they exist for just to be nice to the consumer.If all the other companies where evil and T-moblie good then everone would just leave thier wireless services and join T-moblie.But there are sites on the internet right now with plenty of irate ex-voicestream-T-moblie customers just like there are sites for every other service provider which is negative.So no matter what happens with DT and Cingular you really have only one choice and that is to pick the service provider which does everything you need it to do.And that makes you some what happy.But just rememeber they probably pissed off somebody as well just as long as it isnt you.

[ZaphodB]

Originally posted by: Airb330 I'd like DT/TM accquire Cingular, fix their crappy CS and service problems and unite their network into one technology!

I'd like to see that too but I'm not optimistic. Their debt ratio is WAY too high, they would probably retain the crappy CSRs at Cingular anyway, and Cingular are building out GSM slowly but surely, and I'm not confident that DT would be any faster.

[RITMarketer]

I'm upstate in Rochester. We're TDMA here.

I'd like DT/TM accquire Cingular, fix their crappy CS and service problems and unite their network into one technology!

I'm curious what kind of customer service problems you've had. Realistically, I call cs about 2-3 times a day for customers, and, though they may be happier dealing with an employee, I've had great luck getting anything I need [for a customer]. I'm also extensively polite, use the person's name excessively, and essentially sweet-talk them, but...I hold for 5-10 mins sometimes, but I've been through so much worse w/other companies.

Maybe they're better to me b/c I'm employed at a Cingular Agent, but very few have had trouble getting me needed information and I've been pretty much able to get customers, within reasonable limits, whatever they want.

Pat

[Airb330]

Well I'll tell you my Cingular story. Ok, it's last August, my cousin and I were in the store to check out phones. Now, we were going to get our parents to sign a contract and just pay them. Well, the people at Cingular said "How old are you?", and I replied "16", and she said "Thank you for wasting our time". and then expected us to leave. Well they ticked us off, off to Verizon we went got the Freeup (screw dealing with parents lol), and have been SO happy that we went with Verizon. Cingular CS has been VERY rude (over phone and store) to my friend who has them, but she still defends them, gets pissed at first then accepts them. This coming from the company who drops a call all the time in her dorm, when Verizon has 3-4 bars, oh well she will never switch.

[cucopasuryn]

i don`t know how is the law there but here in CT you need to be 18 to get a prepay phone. but that is not an excuse to be rude, you should not be rude with any customer, maybe they are getting laidoff. it really makes them look bad.

[mrEviltheCat]

I have called TMobile as a sales consultant on behalf of customer many times and it is true, that most of the time you get someone pleasant, but I have had a few instances where the level of rudeness was worse than what I have encountered calling Cingular as a customer. All companies have their share of trolls and their share of angels in the CS department. Cingular's CSR may be a bit rude at times, but so far I always have been able to get the information I needed or have my complaints dealt with reasonably in my year of having Cingular service in which my bill has been muffed up on at least 5 occasions. Getting a good or bad CSR is all a matter of luck, it just seems for the time being that TMobile's are better because they have not had enough time for word to spread on the bad incidents as Cingular has.

[CInsider]

Reference the disclosure of debt by Cingular. Cingular has already filed for its IPO. If and when it will occur are still secret. The primary reason we would need the ability to raise a large amount of cash quickly would be a merger/takeover situation. When you factor in the ending of the 50 Mhz rule in 01/03 it looks very likely that some sort of business deal is in the offing. Whether Cingular will buy/merge wih either ATT or T-Mobile is still to be seen, but January is going to be very interesting.

CInsider

[Airb330]

Yeah I guess here in Delaware you need to be 18 to buy prepaid too, but not in some states. But the whole point was that my cuz and I were looking to get regular plans, just have our parents get them, so they did lose 2 customers. Radioshack did sell us FREEUP though, but Verizon would not, while Verizon sells FREEUP to some under-18 year olds in different states. I guess it depends on where you live.