AT&T Eats T-Mobile’s Fave Five (PHOTOS)
T-Mobile customers where shocked and awed after AT&T bought T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock over the weekend.
So what does this mean for US cell phone users? Why the crocodile tears for fears? It’s simple, in the minds of many, this acquisition signals the end of competition and innovation as well as customer service. Before it was acquired, T-Mobile ranked first in customer service against Verizon, Sprint and AT&T.
Of the four mobile giants operating in America, T-Mobile was the most daring with its pricing and always embraced new technology. Remember T-Mobile’s Fave Five program? T-Mobile’s introduction of Android in the form of the G1? AT&T was the last carrier to add Android phones to its roster. Another fear has to do with the end of the No Contract service T-Mobile users enjoy. Not having a contract ensured a certain freedom from obligation and most T-Mobile customers re-upped with them after buying or upgrading to new phones.
Go to the next page to read more and see three new phones T-Mobile customers may have access to next year.
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Tech blog BetaNews did a thorough analysis of the acquisition and asked its readers their thoughts on the merger. Here’s some of what they had to say:
“I have been a loyal customer of T-Mobile for over nine years,” Reese Burton wrote by email. “Even with Verizon getting the iPhone I did not want to change from T-Mobile. However, if everything in your blog comes about, I will change from AT&T to Verizon. I don’t know what Verizon’s plans are, but they have to be better than AT&T.”
“This buyout will give AT&T even less incentive to offer competitive pricing and services,” S Okuda wrote in the bogs comments. “It will decrease the value for the consumer. There’s a slim hope that this might spur more aggressive pricing from Verizon and Sprint, but it’s highly unlikely.”
Of course, Sprint is not feeling the deal. They released a statement saying it “would alter dramatically the structure of the communications industry. AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would be almost three times the size of Sprint, the third largest wireless competitor. If approved, the merger would result in a wireless industry dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically-integrated companies that control almost 80 percent of the US wireless post-paid market, as well as the availability and price of key inputs such as backhaul and access needed by other wireless companies to compete.”
What do you think? Will AT&T kill all of T-Mobile’s plans and features? The buyout still has a year before it’s approved by the FCC so things will stay the same. For now.
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Charles Barkley in a My Faves ad for T-Mobile.
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The first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1.
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The LG Thrill 4G is a 3D phone T-Mobile customers may have access to if the deal goes through.
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The Samsung Infuse 4G, an Android based phone, could also end up on Tmobile. The screen is huge, it has an 8 megapixel camera and its razor thin.
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The Nokia X7-00 isn’t out yet but when it does it the market, it will head to AT&T. It features a unique angular design, runs on Windows and has an 8 megapixel camera.
