7 States take up arms against AT&T/T-Mobile Merger 24
On our sister-site, WPCentral, we've found more news regarding the curious merger between Ma Bell and T-Mobile that has been in limbo for nearly a year now. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington have all joined forces to declare this acquisition a detriment to businesses and consumers that have already been established in their respective regions. As New York's Attorney General, Eric T. Schneidermen has said, "This proposed merger would stifle competition in markets that are crucial to New York's consumers and businesses, while reducing access to low-cost options and the newest broadband-based technologies."
If the Department of Justice, these seven states and companies like Sprint and Verizon all have their way, you can say goodbye to any AT&T branded webOS devices working on T-Mobile's larger 4G network anytime in the future. Of course, that's assuming any new webOS devices will be released in the future - as of right now, there are only a few HP smartphones that work with AT&T's network, including the AT&T Pre3 that will not likely see much daylight in the US.
AT&T has responded to their new plaintiffs with the following statement:
It is not unusual for state attorneys general to participate in DOJ merger review proceedings or court filings. At the same time, we appreciate that 11 state attorneys general and hundreds of other local, state and federal officials are publicly supportive of our merger. We will continue to seek an expedited hearing on the DOJ’s complaint. On a parallel path, we have been and remain interested in a solution that addresses the DOJ’s issues with the T-Mobile merger.
We remain confident that we’ll reach a successful conclusion and look forward to delivering the merger benefits of additional wireless network capacity to improve customer service, expanded LTE deployment to 55 million more Americans, $8 billion in additional investment, and a commitment to bring 5,000 wireless call center jobs back to the United States.
The next step in this long process is to set the date for the trials to begin, and even in this simple matter the two parties cannot agree. The initial hearing to decide on the date to being the trials is set for September 21st of this year, but while AT&T is looking to get started as early as January 16th, the Department of Justice will be pushing to move it all the way out to March 19th, 2012, further postponing the acquisition.
It'll be a long and bumpy road for AT&T if they ever get to pull this merger off, but there's still hope that it can happen. There's always still hope.
24 Comments
A proud NY'er, I am, that we have stood up and challenged this deal, which would, undeiably, provide a monoply in US GSM mobile services, as well as create a "duoploy" with Verizon for cellular services, that would impede any reasons for either carrier to have to compete for US consumer business any more because demand will be so high, that THEY will benefit hugely.
Capital markets shouldnt be about "reducing competition", rather, they should be about providing the most and best services for the most reasonable prices at any given time.
I agree.
Not content with financially running themselves into the ground states like NY, CA, and IL are now trying to run this deal into the ground as well.
Until they get themselves out of the holes they dug these states have no standing.
If you want a 3G or "4G HSPA+" service, you can't switch between AT&T and T-mobile, so you end up at 2G speeds(with perhaps a TINY number of devices that will work on both for 3G. With that in mind, what real choice do you have if you live in an area that does not have T-mobile service anyway?
So, what is you real argument if you can't get T-mobile right now? How about the lack of growth that T-mobile has seen, do you expect coverage to improve? This is why the parent company of T-mobile was looking to sell it anyway. If you really feel that T-mobile was competition, then you feel that little companies like MetroPCS is also a valid competitor, right?
T-mobile going away due to the parent company either selling off the assets or selling off the entire company would reduce competition anyway, so who are you trying to kid here?
Targon;
1. With 2 Major GSM carriers, customers DO have a choice and the carriers DO have to compete to get your business by having good plans, pricing and device variety; I have been using a Pre+ on Tmobile, get NO 3g whatsover, and am very happy with that choice. Wifi at home, in airports and hotels really makes a huge difference for data when I really need it. EDGE is quite fine for the rest of the time.
2. The above invalidates your 2nd argument.
3. T=Moble coverage and growth will occur after ATT gives up $3b in cash and 3$3.8 b in spectrum as a penalty to T-Mobile when this deal doesnt go through, to kick start their competition again.
4. T-Mobile is the ONLY other national based carrier that uses GSM. Metro-PCS is CDMA,and only regrional (NE, at best). There are only 3 national carriers right now: Verizon, ATT, Tmobile, Sprint.
5. The reason DT wants to sell off TMobile is because the US market is saturated with no growth potential, NOT because they arent profitable.. to the contrary, TMobile has been profitable for some time, so, who arre YOU trying to kid here?
Your logic is backwards.. tey try to commit destroy compeititon, and YOU try to backwards reationlaize it by saying T-Mobile has no othe roption?
How's about stay in business and take more customers away from the other carriers, and make an even playing field??
It'll be a long and bumpy road for AT&T if they ever get to pull this merger off, but there's still hope that it can happen. There's always still hope. More like hope not this isnt good for anyone more carriers the better
Exactly. Without competition, they can charge consumers anything they want for their service. I am honestly surprised there aren't more people against this move. I would have expected near 100% by the public that is should not happen.
"Hope that it can happen"?
We don't need AT&T to get any bigger! I actually think the wireline and Wireless business of AT&T need to be separated. (and the t-mobile merger needs to be blocked, too!)
Hope? I HOPE this doesn't happen. This would be good for ATT and ATT ONLY. Loss of jobs, loss of competition, loss of choice. Wireless rates keeping going up, while carriers take services away or make them more expensive this would only continue the trend.
Giving AT&T a monopoly for GSM technology does NOT encourage competition. Charges will go up, competition will go down, choice will be limited, and seriously questionable corporate ethics will be given free rein. It will be good for this corporation but NOT good for people.
Shut. It. Down. I'm impressed that PA AG Linda Kelly(a Corbett Crony) is standing up to this. Way to go, girl.
I am seriously against this merger. A free pre3 might make me more agreeable...
No Seriously didn't At&t already have their spin with a huge monopoly over the old wire based phone service? Why are they trying to get there again?
AT&T your service is too slow! We want uncapped data plans! We want better cell coverage!
*AT&T acquires the necessary infrastructure to improve their service and meet the demands of an ever increasing amount of smartphone users*
Monopoly! You can't do that!
In practice, monopolies are very difficult to maintain without government intervention. The infrastructure needed to meet customer demands is extremely expensive and time consuming. You can't have it both ways.
I am also entirely against the merger. AT&T Has always been a self-serving juggernaut with frighteningly bad customers service, and this is a power grab, to take control of one of the only carriers in the United States whose values I can get behind (affordability, options, freedom). I don't care what it would do do WebOS, this would take the US carrier system from bleak to bleaker.
this is why countries across the pond have better phone and broadband speeds for a cheaper price. The government stepped in and made the companies have to share data lines and such as well as not letting them buy each other up. And what happened was more companies popping up to offer lower cost services and more options for more options for customers that put our country to shame.
Agreed, and its incredible that the US has allowed the public airwaves to be used in such poor interest of its citizens.
Additionaly, Carriers should be prevented from selling devices... they have single handedly destroyed the ability of manufacturers to bring clean, hi powered and state of the art devices directly to the customers with thier penalty laden multi year contracts, branding and limitations of the hardware, and limitation/dysfunction of services and technooliges at the core OS levels. Customers can't bring a device THEY own to another carrier and use it without paying a penalty AND ful lprice for another device for the new carrier.. that's not competitve in any regard.
I agree this merger is bad for competition and should be stopped. Its bad for all consumers no matter who their service is with. I am not with AT&T.
I also agree that the carriers should not be selling the hardware. Do you purchase your Television from your Cable Company or Direct TV. If you did you would have to get a new TV if you switched providers....
Also AT&T needs to be punished for canceling their Pre3 order.
No on the AT&T T-MO merger but I'd like to see Sprint buy T-MO and switch to GSM with HSPA+ & LTE and make it so you could use a AT&T phone on Sprint. It would be great to see the underdog Sprint stick to to AT&T on 2 fronts.
"There's always still hope."
Are you serious?
Are you saying you support this crazy initiative? OMG
How did this guy manage to write for precentral??
If you haven't noticed the government's track record on the the economy is an F-.
This is a no brainer. Get the government's greedy, politically-motivated hands off of anything to do with stopping business from moving forward.
Ever think maybe the author is not some anti-business, bureaucracy loving loon who wants to support a DOJ that is in over its head on this issue?
It was not intended to be from my perspective. I do not hope that AT&T gets this, but AT&T sure does.
On future webOS devices? What's this article got to do with this site other than to break up the flood of shite app reviews?
CLOSE THIS DOWN. CLOSE IT DOWN NOW, ITS OVER.
Sorry, consumers get no win from this deal. If AT&T really was concerned about the quality of the network they'd put some of their record profits into the infrastructure instead of trying to gobble up all their competitors. If you look at infrastructure spending, AT&T trails Verizon by billions... yet they were the first to cap their data and try to milk the consumer for more cash.
http://www.portfolio.com/companies-executives/2010/02/09/verizon-leads-a...
Let's face it, this kind of behaviour isn't going to get any better when there is one less low cost carrier out there.
as has been said already, this will do nothing either way to affect webOS devices working on tmo's "4g" network. Ugh