Cut the crap troll. It will take that long just for the approval. The actual merging process will take several years, probably 2-3. AT&T isn't stupid, they don't want T-Mobile customers to churn en masse. By the time they turn off the 1700MHz band most customers will have already decided to go elsewhere or will have upgraded to an AT&T phone by then. Of all the worries people have about this merger, this is the one that carries the least weight. T-Mobile phones will work just FINE. By the time it will stop working at 3G/4G speeds, you will have already upgraded to whatever is new and hot then. And if you haven't, you'll be eligible to upgrade anyways, and I'm sure AT&T's loyalty department will have good offers to save customers.