Sprint May Acquire T-Mobile
- Thread starter glennhoffmania
- Start date
shit + shit = shit
One less shitty telco to drive down the prices on the ones who provide semi-decent service.
One less shitty telco to drive down the prices on the ones who provide semi-decent service.
As I've said in other places, I think Sprint is fine. I've been having major issues lately and I just found out my 6 week old phone is defective. After a few arguments they're sending me a brand new one. I was just about to switch to T-Mobile and give them a shot mostly because they'll pay my ETF and buy my defective phone for $250. Now I'll wait to see what happens, but the merging of two companies trying to catch up to the big boys probably won't benefit their current customers. Just like I don't expect better service from TWC after their merger.
I guess Hart-Scott-Rodino is pretty much dead these days. Why even bother to require the filings when the FTC just rubber stamps everything?
j44thor said:
This is the main reason I haven't switched. T-Mobile's latest plan sort of has unlimited data except it slows down after you hit the max.
Brickowski said:
I said the same thing about HSR when the TWC deal was announced.
j44thor said:
I've been paying to stay grandfathered into AT&T's unlimited package for years now, but it reality it's kind of pointless unless you travel a lot. You don't burn data when you're connected to a wireless network (which for most people means when you're at home or work), and music and podcast apps let you sync while on wifi rather than streaming which you want to do for uninterrupted playback anyway if you're on the road. I've only broken the 300MB barrier 2 or 3 times, and that's the smallest data plan they offer nowadays.
SumnerH said:
Yes if you don't travel or use a lot of public transportation then unlimited data probably doesn't matter. I take the train for 30-45 min into work every day and travel at least once per month. Watch streaming movies on Netflix or Amazon while not on wifi and you will burn through data in no time.
They just blocked the AT&T T-Mobile deal. (Well, it was the DOJ, who will also be handling this merger).Brickowski said:
I don't know what this is based on. What are they rubber stamping?
I take public transit, but there are dead spots on the communte (subway and tunnels) so I sync my tv shows/movies rather than streaming them anyway.j44thor said:
This is just terrible news, IMO. I switched off of Sprint to join T-Mobile because of price.
Now Sprint is trying to buy up T-Mobile, the one company who's actually trying to shake up the market. There will be less shake ups, and higher price, if this goes through. That's just terrible for the consumer. It's taking away 25% of the competition (provided we ignore some of the really small local guys)..
I don't like it.
Now Sprint is trying to buy up T-Mobile, the one company who's actually trying to shake up the market. There will be less shake ups, and higher price, if this goes through. That's just terrible for the consumer. It's taking away 25% of the competition (provided we ignore some of the really small local guys)..
I don't like it.
I had AT&T before Sprint. It was the worst service I've ever had. I couldn't make or receive calls in my apartment or in my office. Maybe they've improved but I could never go back to them after that.
This is basically why the AT&T T-Mobile deal failed. We represented AT&T in that deal, and T-Mobile's presence as a maverick in the market was considered too valuable by the DOJ.Jaylach said:
We're not involved here, but I'm awfully curious how they think it'll go through. This looks like a major longshot to me.
1. That deal hasn't been approved.
2. As discussed, they rarely compete in the same markets. If if gets approved, that's not a sign of a rubber stamp.
2. As discussed, they rarely compete in the same markets. If if gets approved, that's not a sign of a rubber stamp.
I jumped to T-Mobile to get into a no contract situation and avoid Verizon's "Pay for your phone on top of your bill, then keep paying for it for the rest of your contract even after it's paid off" plan. I tried to work with Verizon when my old phone stopped working because the 8 GB of memory was completely used up with bloatware and they told me my only option was to buy a phone at retail value or jump to that new shitty plan. When I called to cancel, they suddenly had all kinds of options for getting me a new phone without increasing the cost to me, but by then it was too late. I was done with them. So I have no desire to go back.
That said, AT&T screwed me in 2002 with my first phone and tried to convince me that the contract I signed was different than the one I had actually signed. Since I had done my own contract while working at a friend's store who a licensed carrier for their phones, and was holding the original contract in my hands, I told them to fuck off when the rep told me they didn't need my signature and threatened to ruin my credit if I didn't bend over. I asked for a supervisor, got more of the same, and told him to fuck off as well. Hired a lawyer (well, had a family friend who was a lawyer get involved), got them to drop it and swore them off.
I'm sure a lot has changed with AT&T since then, and my customer service experience is very unlikely to be repeated if I was to go back today, but I'm actually not sure if they'd give me a plan after the prolonged fight I had with them over my first bill. So they may not even be an option for me.
That leaves me with Sprint and T-Mobile unless I want to go with one of the piggyback companies like Cricket or Boost. My girlfriend uses Sprint and is unhappy with it, so this isn't exactly comforting news.
TL
R - I am unhappy with this news.
That said, AT&T screwed me in 2002 with my first phone and tried to convince me that the contract I signed was different than the one I had actually signed. Since I had done my own contract while working at a friend's store who a licensed carrier for their phones, and was holding the original contract in my hands, I told them to fuck off when the rep told me they didn't need my signature and threatened to ruin my credit if I didn't bend over. I asked for a supervisor, got more of the same, and told him to fuck off as well. Hired a lawyer (well, had a family friend who was a lawyer get involved), got them to drop it and swore them off.
I'm sure a lot has changed with AT&T since then, and my customer service experience is very unlikely to be repeated if I was to go back today, but I'm actually not sure if they'd give me a plan after the prolonged fight I had with them over my first bill. So they may not even be an option for me.
That leaves me with Sprint and T-Mobile unless I want to go with one of the piggyback companies like Cricket or Boost. My girlfriend uses Sprint and is unhappy with it, so this isn't exactly comforting news.
TL
R - I am unhappy with this news.I though it had been approved with modifications, but I don't follow that stuff closely any more.
There have also been three big airline mergers since 2010 (although several with modifications) that I'm not sure were very good for consumers.
Well, for starters, the company is defunct. What is known as AT&T now is the company that was known as Cingular when you were being screwed by AT&T.Snodgrass'Muff said:
