AT&T Faces Penalty If T-Mobile Deal Falls Through

Wow! that sounds like I don't want the deal to go through...LOL. If you think about it, T-mobile customers would be getting the most to benefit if the deal DOES NOT go through.

 

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T-Mobile would certainly benefit. The scary thing is how confident AT&T is about this buy out. AT&T wouldn't put that all on the table if their is any uncertainty.

 

That's what I say....all that cash....AND roaming! Yikes! The roaming alone has made at&t cringe for years now!

 

I certainly hope the merger goes down in flames.

 

This is a bad thing however you slice it. If the deal goes through, AT&T will be a GSM monopoly. If the deal does not go through, I'm sure AT&T will find a way to pass on the $3 billion loss to customers in some shape or form.

 

That's EXACTLY what will happen.

 

I don't envy those of you with AT&T right now...

Of course having Verizon ain't a bowl of cherries either. I wonder what evil, nefarious plans they have to capitalize on this mess...

Oh well, it looks like the world is coming to an end anyway, so chalk this up to being another sign...

 

No, VZW is heading to LTE and others will also be doing the same, so in the end we will have all (and most likely Sprint) end up competing on the same technology. I really can not see it going any other way.

 

True, but we're quite a long time away from when we can buy an arbitrary phone and use it on a carrier of our choice. VZW will have to maintain backwards compatibility with CDMA for quite some time, as well as AT&T will have to do the same with GSM & 3G. I don't expect a handful of CDMA/GSM/WCDMA/LTE devices showing up anytime soon, if ever.

P.S. I'll be very happy to be wrong about it

 

DT wants to SELL. If the deal with AT&T falls apart, DT will move on to the next buyer (most likely Sprint). Even with $3 billion and some extra spectrum, I think T-Mobile's business will be irreparably damaged. AT&T's spectrum plan announcement puts the kibosh on further 1700 UMTS phone development and effectively says T-Mobile was doing it wrong (all other carriers are using 1700 for LTE or CDMA). Worst case, DT will piece part T-Mobile and AT&T would still have a shot at chunks they consider more valuable.

 

LOL! good point... but when we see AT&T so confident about this, it's because they are willing to take whatever conditions the government puts on the deal. Whatever divestitures they'll have to do will likely go to Verizon as Sprint is not in a good shape to be making acquisitions at this time. But I would prefer divestitures go to something like Metro PCS or something like that.

 

Scary though. I would hate to see T-Mobile dismembered like that. Hope it doesn't happen...

 

I really liked this piece: Deutsche Telekom's American adventure draws to an unhappy close - FierceWireless

Excerpts:

 

I would not be opposed to the merger if there was a strong GSM provider waiting in the wings, there is not.

This is a monopoly move. AT&T is buying their only competition. Any European coming to the United States MUST roam on AT&T.

Verizon is not competition in this market.

The FCC must not approve this merger.

This is not good for competition.

This is only about eliminating the competition.