[iN8ter]

so now customers will have to pay more to be the "largest" network

Haven't they been doing that on Verizon for the past decade or so?

[iN8ter]

T-Mobile was always the carrier that wasn't scared to challenge the bigger carriers with lower prices for more product. With AT&T buying them, we'll see an end to that very quickly. This does not bode well for prices from everyone. However, if played right, this is a great opportunity for Verizon to take the reigns and dictate where LTE pricing should go (i.e. Lower and remain unlimited). Verizon now has the iPhone and that (like it or not) has leveled the playing field and finally given them all the tools they need to make big money. If they can play this right, they can bring in a lot of AT&T customers over to them by not nickel and diming everyone like AT&T will do. However, they need to realize that this sort of business plan is a long haul type plan and not an overnight black bottom line solution.

Verizon is just as expensive as AT&T, I'm not really getting the bias. I've never had coverage issues when I was on AT&T except in rural areas and when I went to Verizon to get a phone there they refused to sell me one due to no coverage in my area and sent me to T-Mobile (literally said "go to T-Mobile")...

AT&T put up a new tower here months later, though, so full 3G/HSPA+ coverage here... Verizon and Sprint still MIA and T-Mobile only roams (which is free).

[66cuda]

looks like i'm going either to credo or back to a pager and phone card, at&t, Verizon, and sprint all were caught warrantless wire tapping under w and still obama, so now I'm wondering why should I keep my bb since at&t will raise my bill out of reach so why try anymore

[Tony1988]

looks like i'm going either to credo or back to a pager and phone card, at&t, Verizon, and sprint all were caught warrantless wire tapping under w and still obama, so now I'm wondering why should I keep my bb since at&t will raise my bill out of reach so why try anymore

Agreed. Its silly to pay the high prices these companies are asking for. Prepaid is probaably the way to go for now. Though I am sure their rates will rise as well with the prepaids. I may just go back to a basic phone. While a smartphone is nice (I have my first one through metro and was waiting for Tmo's newer BB's) its just NOT worth close to a hundred bucks a month. I can do anything on my computer that a smartphone can do. So it wont be too much of a loss if I go back to a basic phone.

I hope many people have astrong enough wll power to do the same. I highly doubt it though.

[JohnC]

The day this deal goes through is the day I go to Verizon. AT&T's customer service has been the worst I've ever experienced and I can't see myself ever going back to them.

[Tony1988]

The day this deal goes through is the day I go to Verizon. AT&T's customer service has been the worst I've ever experienced and I can't see myself ever going back to them.

Sadly by than Verizon will have gone tiered data.

[phonegeek#AC]

I like TMO and hate to hear this. I thought their HSPA+ strategy was coherent and practical whereas AT&T just won't bother improving their current network because "LTE is coming". Sad news for consumers.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

That is probably the most patently absurd thing I've seen in this thread and that's saying something...

AT&T is deploying HSPA+ just like T-Mobile only on a much larger scale because they have a much larger network. In fact HSPA+ is mostly done from a technology standpoint the only thing remaining are cell site upgrades for backhaul which we have to do anyway because LTE has to ride the same enhanced backhaul.

Ok here are a few lessons we can learn from the Alltel buyout Verizon did:
1) Wow.
2) AT&T had better allow the plans to be grandfathered in and support UMA, or they would be stupid not to.
3) They will probably use both the T-Mobile and AT&T 3G bands now to support both kinds of phones.
4) It may be ugly in some regards.

My thinking is Sprint may get smart and keep their prices low and offer way more. I hope they do because they could get a lot of customers this way.

So on #2 I believe we need to support UMA and I think we will, the grandfathered plans will most likely stick around for a couple of years but I am sure they'll phase them out eventually. On #3 both brands will remain separate until merger close and then will combine to AT&T. They won't leave the T-Mobile brand out there long after merger close.

looks like i'm going either to credo or back to a pager and phone card, at&t, Verizon, and sprint all were caught warrantless wire tapping under w and still obama, so now I'm wondering why should I keep my bb since at&t will raise my bill out of reach so why try anymore

And W and O are so interested in what you have to say that you need to be worried about a wiretap? To be brutally honest all communications carriers are required to allow "access" to their networks.


PG

[qbnkelt]

I've been with AT&T/Cingular since they bought out L.A. Cellular in the mid 90s. Then AT&T sold to Cingular and then back to AT&T. I've had the same account these many years, just a different number when I moved East.
Love AT&T, I don't see a difference in coverage between my Verizon work BB and my personal. Only had one mistake in billing when it went from AT&T to Cingular which resulted in them shutting down my service, but they rectified it.
I hope the T-Mo are happy when they come over. For me, the service has been great.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[scorpiodsu]

I hope this means more competitive rates and services from Verizon. I don't think prices are going to sky rocket like everyone else. Maybe AT&T keeps some of the Tmobile pricing and services or combine it with some of their current services to give customers more bang. Verizon has been seen as only having to compete with AT&T and TMO and Sprint were "beneath" both of them. Now with this, it is possible it will force Verizon to offer more services without extra costs. For instance, AT&T recently started offering unlimited mobile to mobile to any mobile like Sprint and TMO didn't have that feature. But let's say that now extends to TMO's customers, Verizon will have to think about offering it instead of the stupid 'my friends and family' crap. The increase in users that now can call any mobile free between AT&T/TMO and Sprint will force VZW to have to address it. And the same thing is possible with other TMO-specific services. It will force Verizon to start adding some feature without charge. Before they didn't have to because AT&T didn't. But if AT&T plays it smart they will implement a lot of TMO's services into their customer base and make their network more enhanced with a lot of features and as a Verizon customer, I see this as a positive thing.

Don't get me wrong, I do see the possible effects of having 1 less major carrier on it's own and that may actually be more of a disadvantage to TMO customers than customers of other networks. They may have to deal with increase prices for calling plans while Sprint and Verizon customers may get extra services without charge because of this. We will see.

[scorpiodsu]

Here's an article from BGR on what will be AT&T's roadmap coverage-wise if acquisition is approved.

AT&T intends to use T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum for LTE | BGR

Basically they will move all TMO customers off the 1700 AWS frequency and combine it with their 700MHZ frequency to reach 95% LTE coverage.

Again, I see this as a benefit for Verizon customers. Because with this, AT&T will be able to deploy LTE a lot faster forcing Verizon to now do the same instead of having 2 separate companies slowly deploy it.

[cbreze]

Doesn't t-mo still roam on at+t and vice versa? So how does that make coverage better? Would seem the same to me. I left tmo 2 years ago due to poor rural coverage and some smaller towns had no coverage. Neither did at+t. So I don't see this as a huge benefit for coverage. Same if sprint took over verizon as they roam back and forth also. Verizon has the coverage, simple.

[scorpiodsu]

Doesn't t-mo still roam on at+t and vice versa? So how does that make coverage better? Would seem the same to me. I left tmo 2 years ago due to poor rural coverage and some smaller towns had no coverage. Neither did at+t. So I don't see this as a huge benefit for coverage. Same if sprint took over verizon as they roam back and forth also. Verizon has the coverage, simple.

TMO and AT&T do not have the same 3G bands so roaming means nothing here. They both however, basically have the same 2G coverage. But if one needed to roam on the other, it's not free so that's the benefit. You would now get coverage all over the place without having to roam or needing to pay for it. As far as future LTE coverage, it's a huge plus because it will now be 1 big network of coverage instead of 2 separate ones that only have coverage in specific areas. Say for instance TMO LTE coverage was mostly on the east coast and AT&T's was mostly on the west. Now with one big network you have coverage on both without having to roam or a compatible phone that locked to 1 carrier.

[Missy345]

I thought Sprint was going to buy T-Mobile

[Gawain]

Not necessarily, the rules for spectrum ownership have been blurred in recent years because of the VZN/Altel merger. Will there be some divestiture, sure. However it will help both companies in a lot of places because areas where we're both on the same towers will allow us to remove one lease, increase coverage because we'll be able to add 850mhz to some T-mobile customers that were spectrum limited before.

Valid point, but falls a tad short I think. Over 100 markets from the VZW/ALLTEL merger changed hands after the merger closed. At the time, there were actually areas where ALLTEL and VZW didn't overlap. So, it made sense. AT&T bought a lot of those markets. T-Mobile is mostly in the PCS band (not counting the 1700MHz AWS). AT&T holds huge amounts of PCS licenses. There is going to have to be huge divestiture of assets and spectrum.

I suppose the bean counters can make it work, because that all this is ever about, money, but I think a lot of customers are going to be a bit frustrated with the outcome.

[max221]

Oh nuts.

AT&T said that some time after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile's cell towers work. The airwaves they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be repurposed for 4G, which is faster.

That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T's 3G frequencies.

AT&T: T-Mobile 3G phones will need to be replaced - Yahoo! News

[scorpiodsu]

Oh nuts.



AT&T: T-Mobile 3G phones will need to be replaced - Yahoo! News

Yeah I posted the article above where AT&T would migrate everyone off TMO's 1700 frequency to combine it with their 700 for LTE. I think it the short run, many people will complain, especially if AT&T makes people sign new contracts and not grandfather them into any TMO services and I totally understand that. But it seems in order for AT&T to get LTE out faster and more widespread this may be the best way. So at the end of the day, everything will be combined under the same frequencies instead of having many difference devices that are compatible or not compatible. It makes sense because when you walk into an AT&T store it would be silly for them to have to sell 2 types of the same device. So migrating to 1 frequency is necessary to avoid a lot of confusion for consumers, expenses that comes with having to deal with 2 3G networks, and future, better LTE coverage.

[Anima Mundi]

Aw crap. I'm on AT&T but I'm using a T-Mobile branded BB. So I'll be forced to get a new phone even though I don't want one. Grrrrr!!

If Verizon or Sprint used GSM technology, I'd be looking at their plans right now.

[cbreze]

TMO and AT&T do not have the same 3G bands so roaming means nothing here. They both however, basically have the same 2G coverage. But if one needed to roam on the other, it's not free so that's the benefit.

I guess i was referring more to the 2G voice coverage, since that's what matters most in an emergency and att+t-mo used to have free roaming at least with my tmo nationwide plan. This was back in 2001 when I came onboard voicestream(tmo). If I wasn't on tmo network it would auto switch to att/cingular or any other roaming partner that was nearby. I've been out of touch with t-mo and their roaming policies for the past 2 years since I moved to verizon for their better coverage. I loved tmo and the whole GSM format, but coverage was and always will be #1 for me. So thanks for the comment and update on their roaming policies. I thought it was still free with a nationwide plan.

[jlb21]

This takeover announcement comes on the heels of AT&T saying they will crack down on tether cheaters......

Ca-ching, Ca-ching.....

[hootyhoo]

I hope this means more competitive rates and services from Verizon. I don't think prices are going to sky rocket like everyone else. Maybe AT&T keeps some of the Tmobile pricing and services or combine it with some of their current services to give customers more bang. Verizon has been seen as only having to compete with AT&T and TMO and Sprint were "beneath" both of them. Now with this, it is possible it will force Verizon to offer more services without extra costs. For instance, AT&T recently started offering unlimited mobile to mobile to any mobile like Sprint and TMO didn't have that feature. But let's say that now extends to TMO's customers, Verizon will have to think about offering it instead of the stupid 'my friends and family' crap. The increase in users that now can call any mobile free between AT&T/TMO and Sprint will force VZW to have to address it. And the same thing is possible with other TMO-specific services. It will force Verizon to start adding some feature without charge. Before they didn't have to because AT&T didn't. But if AT&T plays it smart they will implement a lot of TMO's services into their customer base and make their network more enhanced with a lot of features and as a Verizon customer, I see this as a positive thing.

Don't get me wrong, I do see the possible effects of having 1 less major carrier on it's own and that may actually be more of a disadvantage to TMO customers than customers of other networks. They may have to deal with increase prices for calling plans while Sprint and Verizon customers may get extra services without charge because of this. We will see.

VZ already offers free mobile to mobile. And I have unlimited data for $9.99 a month.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[breakmedown]

I personally think this is great for AT&T customers. As one, I hope instead of ruining TMobiles customer service, AT&T makes customer service better by using theirs. Who knows, though.

As for all of you who think that this is gonna raise prices, on what basis do you think that? Verizon is still a huge company that will always be competition. Also, Spring is big enough to still provide some competition as well.

As for them being the only GSM network and people complaining about that, considering that both AT&T and Verizon will be primarily LTE by the time all of this deal is said and done, I'm not sure how that's even a worthwhile argument to make. So that argument is really just a "straw man".

I'll be curious to see how all this pans out. I personally see AT&T currently doing the same thing BB has been doing the last couple of years. They saw a problem with their company and the way they are going about changing it is buying other companies and using their resources and assets to better their company and everyone who is underneath both of the companies merging.

[scorpiodsu]

VZ already offers free mobile to mobile. And I have unlimited data for $9.99 a month.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Not as an included feature with your plan. AT&T and Sprint both offer free calls to any mobile regardless of network. VZW does not offer this. The only thing a person can do is either get an unlimited plan or get a qualifying plan where you can use "friends and family". They do not offer free mobile to mobile as an included feature.

[scorpiodsu]

The ones who potentially get screwed the most are tmobile customers. They are subject to having to be migrated to a new frequency which means getting a new device where it's possible they will have to sign up for a new plan which could possibly be a lot higher if it keeps with AT&T's current pricing.

[howarmat]

Not as an included feature with your plan. AT&T and Sprint both offer free calls to any mobile regardless of network. VZW does not offer this. The only thing a person can do is either get an unlimited plan or get a qualifying plan where you can use "friends and family". They do not offer free mobile to mobile as an included feature.

hmm mine says free mobile to mobile also...no * either

[hootyhoo]

Not as an included feature with your plan. AT&T and Sprint both offer free calls to any mobile regardless of network. VZW does not offer this. The only thing a person can do is either get an unlimited plan or get a qualifying plan where you can use "friends and family". They do not offer free mobile to mobile as an included feature.

Actually they do. I just renewed a couple of months ago. It's in there. My plan with the same phones (except for my new DX ), is actually cheaper than my grandfathered alltel plan. And that is with an added MiFi card.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com