Commence the butthurt (ATT buying Tmobile)

duccarlos · March 23, 2011, 08:27:19 AM

They won't block it. They will simply force AT&T to split some of the subscribers with Verizon.

ducatiz · March 23, 2011, 08:45:59 AM

Quote from: duccarlos on March 23, 2011, 08:27:19 AM
They won't block it. They will simply force AT&T to split some of the subscribers with Verizon.

I don't think they'll block it due to market share alone. AT&T and Tmobile are the only GSM players. If AT&T takes that over, then they'll be the only GSM retailer.

I don't know how strong that argument is though, I am pretty sure it would be novel.

The "required 3g upgrade" for Tmobile users would be scrutinized as well as long as someone brings it up. the original AT&T gave users 3 years to upgrade from AMPS phones, a whole 2 years more than required.

duccarlos · March 23, 2011, 08:56:23 AM

Unfortunately, this is a 2 horse race. I'm sure that AT&T will play the "patriotic" card. You know, buying it from the Germans.

I've seen quite a few of these "mergers" and the only public stipulation the FCC has applied has been the split of the subscribers. That's not to say that they are not forced to do additional things that are not made public.

derby · March 23, 2011, 09:02:20 AM

Quote from: ducatiz on March 23, 2011, 08:45:59 AM
I don't think they'll block it due to market share alone. AT&T and Tmobile are the only GSM players. If AT&T takes that over, then they'll be the only GSM retailer.

i think that as verizon and at&t both move to lte, this becomes less of an issue.

mitt · March 23, 2011, 09:29:49 AM

Quote from: derby on March 23, 2011, 09:02:20 AM
i think that as verizon and at&t both move to lte, this becomes less of an issue.

How about for people that travel a lot? Verizon LTE phones won't work in Europe right? How about AT&T LTE phones?

mitt

duccarlos · March 23, 2011, 09:34:17 AM

Verizon has never really played nice outside of the US.

derby · March 23, 2011, 09:58:06 AM

Quote from: mitt on March 23, 2011, 09:29:49 AM
How about for people that travel a lot? Verizon LTE phones won't work in Europe right? How about AT&T LTE phones?

mitt

lte is the evolution of the gsm technology path. iirc, lte was designed to be backwards compatible so you should still be able to travel.

Quote from: duccarlos on March 23, 2011, 09:34:17 AM
Verizon has never really played nice outside of the US.

...as a consequence of adopting a technologically-superior-but-not-widely-adopted wireless standard. seeing as most americans never leave the county, the trade-off of having the widest-coverage and best-sounding network was a good one.

verizon does, however, have a program that will keep you connected should you plan to travel outside of a cdma area and not have a (cdma+gsm capable) "world phone":

http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Global_Travel/index.html

il d00d · March 23, 2011, 11:36:48 AM

I have never had a GSM phone I have attempted to travel with, but I have always counted on having a spare GSM phone that I could pop a cheap Euro pay-as-you-go SIM in to. I haven't looked at rates recently, but it always seemed like a cheaper and easier alternative to the usurious US carrier roaming rates.

duccarlos · March 23, 2011, 12:27:45 PM

Quote from: il d00d on March 23, 2011, 11:36:48 AM
I have never had a GSM phone I have attempted to travel with, but I have always counted on having a spare GSM phone that I could pop a cheap Euro pay-as-you-go SIM in to. I haven't looked at rates recently, but it always seemed like a cheaper and easier alternative to the usurious US carrier roaming rates.

+1 You can always buy a cheap GSM phone either on eBay or even in Europe. Pop in the SIM card and you're good to go.

News:

Commence the butthurt (ATT buying Tmobile)