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AT&T Sues to Prevent Merger-Related Customer Arbitration

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less competitions = higher prices. BS!

netboy

Aug 13, 2011, 8:28 PM
do you know how many car manufactures out there?
ALOT!
then why isnt Mercedes selling under cars under 20,000$ ?
of course you pay more if you want better coverage (att + tmobile towers).
but if you dont want to pay more, get virgin mobile! 35$ for unlimited calls, texts, and web !
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Globhead

Aug 13, 2011, 9:48 PM
why isnt Mercedes selling under cars under 20,000$ ?


I was going to explain the absurdity of this question, but it is easier to point out that Mercedes owns the Smart brand which in fact does sell for less than $20,000.
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NonBiasedRep

Aug 14, 2011, 10:07 AM
Correct and ATT has Gophone which is unlimited talk text and web for 50$. So I would say his analogy still hold validity. So far... That is :-)
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not pickles

Aug 13, 2011, 9:50 PM
Your analogy is a bit of a stretch, to say the least...but I ain't gonna try to argue with ya.
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neurocutie

Aug 14, 2011, 2:25 AM
mmmm, VM is a prepaid brand of Sprint and does not own their own nationwide network. They are at the mercy of Sprint, who in turn has said that they will ptobably not be able to compete if the duopoly is created.
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DarkStar

Aug 14, 2011, 11:33 AM
Att and Tmobile merging has nothing to do with Sprint's survival. They aren't going to be able to last because of poor business decisions they have made in the past, choosing of the wrong 4g network, and horrible customer service.

Sprint wanted to buy T-mobile but Att has more money then Sprint.
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Vmac39

Aug 14, 2011, 12:00 PM
"Sprint wanted to buy T-mobile but Att has more money then Sprint."

Now, I don't know if that's the reason Sprint didn't buy TMO or not but, I think that's a point a lot of people miss. If Sprint had been able to purchase TMO, would it remained GSM or would Sprint have switched their network to GSM? My opinion, probably not. They would have switched it to cdma a d there still would be one less GSM carrier around. So, all this fuss about competition, is complete BS, as far as I'm concerned.
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NonBiasedRep

Aug 14, 2011, 12:05 PM
Yea like I said I feel like this is just the easiest thing to complain about. The cell phone industry will not crumble if this acquisition goes through.
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NonBiasedRep

Aug 14, 2011, 12:15 PM
And also I dont think there will be any major repurcussions. Its not like 1 month later the prices will go up by 50$ AT&T dosnt over charge as it is now there on par with Verizon. With Verizon being AT&T's major competitor they are not going to be able to charge more then verizon as there network is so strong everyone would simply switch to Verizon....
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WiWavelength

Aug 14, 2011, 6:28 PM
NonBiasedRep said:
And also I dont think there will be any major repurcussions. Its not like 1 month later the prices will go up by 50$ AT&T dosnt over charge as it is now there on par with Verizon. With Verizon being AT&T's major competitor they are not going to be able to charge more then verizon as there network is so strong everyone would simply switch to Verizon....


Consumer choice is not based solely on price. Additional factors are numerous: wireless coverage, plan availability, handset selection, customer service, corporate ethics, etc. Even if the Ma Bell duopolists' pricing regimes were to become very reasonable, wireless customers should not be limited to a choice between AT&T and VZW. For...
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Vmac39

Aug 15, 2011, 10:30 PM
In some areas that would be very true. However, there are plenty of other options out there for people to use in most areas. But, I do understand that depends on your area. Most urban areas have a few options to goose from, not just ATT or VZN.
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WiWavelength

Aug 16, 2011, 1:32 AM
Vmac39 said:
In some areas that would be very true. However, there are plenty of other options out there for people to use in most areas. But, I do understand that depends on your area. Most urban areas have a few options to goose from, not just ATT or VZN.


Let me use a personal anecdote. I live in a market of population 100,000 that is less than 30 miles from a major market of population 2 million. Ten years ago, consumer choice in my market included six wireless carriers: VZW, Cingular, AT&TWS, Sprint PCS, VoiceStream (soon to be rebranded T-Mobile), and Nextel. Today, do the math; consolidation has diminished those six to only four: VZW, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. If the AT&T-T-Mobile merger som...
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Vmac39

Aug 16, 2011, 3:24 AM
My point was, there're four minor carriers that could take its place. MetroPCS is the fith largest carrier in the nation and is developing their LTE network. Cricket is developing LTE network. That's two of the four minor carriers. US Cellular could easily have plans but, I haven't read anything that would suggest it. TracFone could step up their game, too. With the absence of on major carrier, the potential of another taking its place is much greater than before. Although, these companies are CDMA, they could invest in CDMA/GSM phones and some have. Between VZN, ATT, Sprint, Metro PCS and Cricket; all are developing or plan to develop their LTE networks. This gives one more competitor then before, for now. I'm just not convinced that this d...
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Cosmic Spiderman

Aug 16, 2011, 11:12 AM
While that is plausable, Do you not think that it is possible for Sprint to actually THRIVE in that new invironment do to being the only carrier with both unlimited data and enexpensive plans? I don not think that it will be lack of competition that will be the downfall of Sprint. I think that their desire to swim against the flow of LTE for so long, pouring money into losing ventures, catering to the lowest common denominator of customers by yelling "We're cheap!" instead of "We have the best phones!, these things will be their downfall. However, they seem to be trying to get back on track with switching to LTE. Too litle, too late? Quite possibly. I also agree with some of the others in that a NEW contender could step up.
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WiWavelength

Aug 14, 2011, 6:15 PM
Vmac39 said:If Sprint had been able to purchase TMO, would it remained GSM or would Sprint have switched their network to GSM? My opinion, probably not. They would have switched it to cdma a d there still would be one less GSM carrier around.


None of the above. The Sprint CDMA network would have continued, as would have the T-Mobile GSM network. As both networks evolved, they would have converged to LTE.

AJ
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Vmac39

Aug 14, 2011, 7:10 PM
If that's the case, that makes this whole thing even more BS. If changing over to LTE is the way all carriers will eventually go, then the lack of a GSM carrier is not so much of a big issue, in the long run and all this fuss is still pointless.
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ButtaKnife

Aug 15, 2011, 10:13 AM
I certainly wouldn't call it pointless. Keep in mind that when Internet prices were too high and speeds too low in the UK their government forced the few entrenched ISPs to open up their networks and allow competition, which has resulted in better speeds and better pricing, overall. In the US, well, companies pay off the government and consolidate the market until we are paying more than we should under the guise of a competitive market.

Unless some new evidence has come up, AT&T's primary argument for merging (T-Mobile's spectrum) is complete rubbish, so it's fairly clear what their goal is. No, it won't be an overnight increase in prices and the market will certainly continue forward, but as we lose competition in the market we also ...
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Vmac39

Aug 15, 2011, 8:38 PM
While you make a very valid point, I'm still ot convinced that competition will be slowed. If anything, the lack of a major carrier will have all the smaller ones fighting to take its place and offering great opportunity for growth in technologies for all carriers. The larger carriers, while seemingly secure in their positions now, can change. All it takes is for on of these smaller carriers to come up with some grand idea that will have the masses attention. They will grow into the competitor on their hills.
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mycool

Aug 16, 2011, 10:29 AM
Vmac39 said:
All it takes is for on of these smaller carriers to come up with some grand idea that will have the masses attention. They will grow into the competitor on their hills.


Actually, that isn't the case. The industry is one with great barriers to entry. It isn't as simple as having a great idea. In fact, it involves even more than just capital. You could have enough capital to deploy out an entire network in one market, but without the spectrum licenses you can't move.

Now, don't misconstrue this as me stating it is impossible, but moreover just highly improbable. Even for a small-sized, successful carrier such as MetroPCS, it is very difficult to expand into new markets. If it wa...
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Vmac39

Aug 16, 2011, 11:19 AM
Yes, I do understand your point. I like to play devil's advocate, when it comes to issues like this. It just seems like so many people are just repeating what they hear. No body knows for sure, what will happen, if this deal goes through. For that matter, what will happen if it doesn't. TMO wants to sell and no one else seems to want to buy or can buy. It could be worse, you know. The government could buy it and no one would benefit from that. They could alot themselves all kinds of spectrum, in the name of promoting competition. Hell, we could be like China. If im correct in saying this, they have only on national carrier.
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Slammer

Aug 16, 2011, 2:35 PM
---" TMO wants to sell and no one else seems to want to buy or can buy."---

Sprint was/is still highly interested in Tmobile USA. They were the only big player that devoted any kind of talks and wager a bid for some kind of merge. Talks of Tmobile going up for sale, has been going on for the last 2+ years. It was only when Sprint made a confirmed bid, that ATT said "Well we can't let this happen" and just threw a high number of dollars out to Tmobile to forfeit the initial bidder and to keep other's hands off them. ATT has no interest in tmo other than to curb competition.

John B.
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Vmac39

Aug 17, 2011, 10:23 AM
I've never read anything about a dollar amount being offered by Sprint but, I doubt it was just ATT's ability to out bid them that caused those talks to ever come to fruition. It may have been more of a time frame they had to come up with a viable plan to incorporate a GSM network into their own, plus come up with the money. Sprint may have offered an agreeable amount but, they may not have had the capitol off the back. Then again, maybe Sprint backed out of the deal, realizing that it would have been a huge risk for them, if they could not incorporate TMO's network with their own. Look how long a d difficult it was for them, when they bought Nextel. I just don't think Sprint has the financial ability to purchase TMO and meld the network and...
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Slammer

Aug 17, 2011, 10:57 AM
Sprint played by the bargaining game rules. They offered an entrance bid of roughly 21 Billion. The next step would have been a counter by Tmobile. It never got to that point. ATT almost overnight, bid 39 Billion knowing Sprint would not be able to obtain that.

GSM and CDMA will be 80% irrelevant within the next couple years as every carrier is migrating to LTE. All data and voice will be delivered using this technology. Sprint would have operated the two concurrently as separate entities until then.

ATT clearly wants to reunite the children separated years ago. I've heard arguments of how many are looking forward to the added coverage with this merge. ATT has had the means to add coverage over the last 7 years with the spectrum they...
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Vmac39

Aug 17, 2011, 11:35 AM
As a customer, I am concerned. I don't want to see this deal stifle things, if it goes through and I would hope that ATT would make good use of all the spectrum they would acquire. As far as Sprint and LTE, they have WiMax and as far as I can tell, that's not LTE. Its totally different and it would take Sprint a while to get WiMax versions of any decent phones, while other carriers will have had them for six months or longer. As for the spectrum that ATT has, I'm thinking their issues with network back haul have a lot to do with being able to talk and surf at the same time. Just maybe, this desire to own TMO's spectrum would help relieve some of the congestion issues, while maintaining their goto feature.
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WiWavelength

Aug 14, 2011, 6:54 PM
DarkStar said:
Att and Tmobile merging has nothing to do with Sprint's survival. They aren't going to be able to last because of poor business decisions they have made in the past, choosing of the wrong 4g network, and horrible customer service.


Yes, Sprint ultimately must bear responsibility for its actions. But some of you cannot see the forest for the trees, do not fully respect why Sprint and T-Mobile both are in their current positions.

Because AT&T and VZW have used their naturally advantaged positions to wield anti competitive market pressure for years, Sprint and T-Mobile have had little choice but to make questionable decisions regarding pricing, marketing, strategy, etc., just to try to main...
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mycool

Aug 16, 2011, 11:04 AM
I swear AJ, you have been around these boards for a long time and make such great posts. It is so appreciated to see posts like this as apposed to the usual misinformed or childish posts.

Education is a wonderful thing 🙂
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Cosmic Spiderman

Aug 16, 2011, 11:51 AM
But, do you think that AT&T and VZW have arrived where they are by travelling such a completely different road than TMO and Sprint have had? Business succeed by their ability to adapt to trends, deversify, and pioneer. I just think of where Google was 10 years ago. AT&T had iPhone locked up for smartphones. The other carriers had nothing but Palm and RIM, which AT&T also did. This was where Google stepped forward with Android. Now Google is able to buy Motorola Mobility. The right move at the right time made all the difference. And that isn't an uncommon occurance.
It could also occur by businesses adopting similar practices of their competitors. To use a racing analogy, drafting your competitor until the opportunity to slingshot past. Some...
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Fredd

Aug 15, 2011, 10:29 AM
neurocutie said:
VM is a prepaid brand of Sprint


Not true! Virgin Mobile is an MVNO, using Sprint's CDMA network. It is NOT a brand of Sprint.
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mycool

Aug 16, 2011, 11:02 AM
netboy said:
do you know how many car manufactures out there?
ALOT!
then why isnt Mercedes selling under cars under 20,000$ ?
of course you pay more if you want better coverage (att + tmobile towers).
but if you dont want to pay more, get virgin mobile! 35$ for unlimited calls, texts, and web !


You're asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is this:

If there were only 2-3 car manufacturers to choose from, would the Mercedes still be selling for what it is now, or would it be even more expensive or have less luxuries?

------
Oh, and here are some preemptive strikes against arguments against my point:

1) I choose to use the example of 2-3 car manufacturers because realistically in...
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Cosmic Spiderman

Aug 16, 2011, 11:55 AM
An excellent post. I like to hear arguments to both sides of a situation. Well done.
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