The AT&T-Mobile merger: A retrospective overview
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Meanwhile, AT&T was playing its own game, trying to convince the FCC that it just has to allow the acquisition. Some of the primary reasons that were pointed out had to deal with eventual economic growth and new employment opportunities. Apparently, the carrier's vision was completely different from that of Sprint – AT&T claimed that the merger will actually promote competition and innovation, partly because of the better spectrum position AT&T was to acquire. Not only that, but it also thought that even after the acquisition, Sprint and Clearwire (of which Sprint owns 51%) would still be better positioned in terms of spectrum. So, apparently the FCC shouldn't have had to look so seriously at the proposed deal. However, final judgment was still a part of the distant future. Initially, it was expected that it'd be some time in Q1 2012 when we should see a final decision, however, this was later pushed back to June or July next year, due to the numerous legal issues that AT&T had to face.
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Aaand this brings us to this Tuesday, when the other major institution in this case, besides the DoJ, the FCC, decided to have a say in this whole thing. More specifically, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sent a draft order to his fellow commissioners, concluding that the FCC has found that the proposed deal will lead to a lower level of competition, as well as job cuts (instead of more jobs, as claimed by AT&T and T-Mobile). The result of this was that the Chairman wanted an administrative law judge to review the deal. Apparently, this has made AT&T and T-Mobile rethink their tactics, as it was announced today that they have withdrawn their application papers from the Federal Communications Commission.
As we said in the beginning, it ain't over till it's over. And in this case, it isn't over yet, as AT&T and T-Mobile might still try to pursue their goal of merging together in the future, once the federal dust settles. For the time being, however, the weather forecast won't be pretty, over in the land of AT&Tville, where Mayor Ralph will have to think of new ways to build his LTE network up.
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37 Comments
1. Carlitos posted on 24 Nov 2011, 11:55 1 12
T-mobile, is going to slowly die away, but will probably last longer, since if this is completly true, AT&t will have to give up some money. The matter of the fact is that Father Tmobile from Europe, does not give a F...k about Tmobile USA.
Now with all this AT&tWill roll out its LTE much slower because it has to wait for new spectrum tocomein, and raise prices.
Sometimes i ask myself, if the U.S. Wants to save the economy, they had a shot at bringing thousands of jobs over seas, now they are letting it slip away.
This are just the way i am ooking at this, so please dont reply to this comment all offended.
10. remixfa posted on 24 Nov 2011, 17:17 1 1
your an idiot, and I work for T-Mobile, so that offends me twice.
what thousands of jobs? call center jobs? they were never leaving from overseas.. they were just going to be merged with ATT\'s over seas call centers.. or vice versa.
The economy was definitely not riding on the Tmobile deal.
Tmobile wont die away. They will find a new way to partner up and make competitive ventures the same way sprint has. If Sprint can turn around a sinking ship, then T-Mo can definitely get a stalled one moving.
11. Gawain posted on 24 Nov 2011, 17:41 4 1
The majority of AT&T's and Verizon's markets date back to the original A-Side/B-Side 800MHz spectrum allocated in the 70s and 80s. It was augmented by the auctions in the 90s (1900MHz). The only carrier out of the four that is complaining about spectrum is AT&T.
It has nothing to do with the spectrum, it has everything to do with capacity. AT&T built out a GSM network without enough density to make it work (migrating from TDMA). Verizon and Sprint do not suffer these problems for a number of reasons, the first of which is the standard they use. CDMA/EVDO has greater capacity over a smaller channel of spectrum. AT&T can't make it work because they refuse to build out the infrastructure to do so.
T-Mobile's network was built from the ground up and assembled through a series of acquisitions of the PCS carriers from the 90s (Ariel, VoiceStream, et al). They were GSM from the ground up and with their augmentation of HSPA on a separate license, they make an appealing target (aside from the fact that DT refuses to see this as their only growing wireless market).
AT&T's lethargic rollout of LTE is proof positive over their seeming inability to invest in their infrastructure. VZW has had LTE out for less than a year, and the deployment has reached how many cities? 200?
AT&T doesn't need an acquisition costing $39B, they need management that knows how to get in the driver's seat and manage their network.
19. Slammer posted on 25 Nov 2011, 05:48 0 0
It is refreshing to see another poster with the technical aptitude to convey the finer points of AT&T's faults. It has long been known from individuals that study, that AT&T's MO is to dominate with doing the least possible. The recent proof here, is the network constraints and issues that came from their own negligence.
As you eloquenty pointed out, they have not used their spectrum holdings efficiently.
John B.
17. JGuinan007 posted on 24 Nov 2011, 22:47 0 0
So does this mean Apple will buy them to start their own network?
2. robinrisk posted on 24 Nov 2011, 12:36 6 1
Well, those 3 billion dollars will come in handy to develop T-Mobile´s Network, won´t it?
Remixfa, looks like you´re going to keep your job! Congrats!
21. remixfa posted on 25 Nov 2011, 08:04 3 1
yaay! :) maybe they will take out that 3 billion, throw up the remaining towers they need to become a bigger company coverage wise.. and then you will have a network as large as vzw and sprint, almost as fast as VZW, and still half the cost. who wouldnt like that?
22. LewsTherin006 posted on 25 Nov 2011, 08:38 3 1
congrats bro, we can keep our jobs, and not have to tell every customer who ask about it that it may go through. Here is to getting the galaxy nexus and expanding coverage!
30. remixfa posted on 25 Nov 2011, 15:40 3 0
lol.. i wish that were completely true. tmo has said officially that the merger is still on.. they are just pooling resources to fight the DoJ, then they will resubmit the paperwork for the FCC. I guess they are really worried about the DoJ if they are doing that.
34. godsarmylds posted on 25 Nov 2011, 21:05 0 0
Hey I work for T-mo also. According to my district manager thats pretty much all BS (i got the same e-mail). Att already getting money to pay out T-mo and the deal is completely dead. And i guess there is a ton of rumors runningaround in upper management abouta google and t-mo. That would be very much exciting.
37. LewsTherin006 posted on 26 Nov 2011, 13:10 0 0
the DOJ is the easier fight, mainly because they just want ATT to give up things to make the take over go through (like 40% of Tmo to be sold off). they pulled out of the FCC because the FCC would have shown all truth about how they just want to take tmobile off the market.
38. ILikeBubbles posted on 27 Nov 2011, 21:35 0 0
as much as i don't nessisarily love t-mo i would take them over at&t any day....
3. snowgator posted on 24 Nov 2011, 12:38 2 1
If memory serves, there was on article which was referred to on here that suggested there were other bidders interested in T-Mobile. T-Mobile will continue to provide service, and hopefully someone who would like to keep the 4th largest carrier independent will step up to the plate next.
5. darth8ball posted on 24 Nov 2011, 13:22 2 1
Not a surprise to me. I knew the US Gov. wouldn't let this deal go thru. Now will AT&T try to get out of the 3 Billion dollar no deal payout?
8. WakaFlakaD posted on 24 Nov 2011, 15:30 0 0
Honesty though, being the 4th and way behind the top 3, is there any way that T-Mo can push it higher? Deutsche Telekom exited out on them. Any foreign wireless companies in this industry would want to invest on them? I don't think T-Mobile will ever die away, but a company thats not going nowhere, any potentials?
Will we see iPhone 5 on T-Mobile next year? xD
12. BaiGanyo posted on 24 Nov 2011, 19:36 1 1
What I've always wondered about the honesty of att capacity....If they don't have enough, why do they sell capacity to tmobile customers for roaming purposes? And how are huge numbers of Tracfone and Net10's 18 million customers using att's network? Not to mention, multiple other mvno's and nearly all of the foreign carriers customers who roam on att when in the US. Sounds like they have plenty to me. This deal was destined to fail and everyone except the incompetent management of att knew it.
32. choupino posted on 25 Nov 2011, 16:50 1 0
BaiGanyo you are referring to something VERY VERY different. You are talking about the network usage and roaming agreements that AT&T has with other service providers. The "Network Capacity" that is being helped by the AT&T & T-Mobile deal refers to the 4G LTE Spectrum, not some B.S. GSM & 3G network systems.
You sound like a conspiracy theorist. "This deal was destined to fail..."... really?
13. RORYREVOLUTION posted on 24 Nov 2011, 20:21 2 3
God I just wish Sprint would improve their service. Their 3G is so slow and useless when you are in any kind of building, it's pathetic. The "Now" network? Really? Because it takes 10 minutes to load Facebook Mobile. lol
T-Mobile has great deals and a decent line up, their service is better than Sprint tho Verizon is still top dog for sure.
28. RORYREVOLUTION posted on 25 Nov 2011, 14:51 0 0
I have been addicted to Skyrim, I got my gaming fix so I am back for now lol
31. remixfa posted on 25 Nov 2011, 15:41 0 0
lol. love me some skyrim. my brother was messing with me because im now LVL24 and he had to goad me into completing the high hrothgar initiation mission.. lol
35. HTCiscool posted on 26 Nov 2011, 03:08 0 0
I know right Skyrim sure is EPIC
33. choupino posted on 25 Nov 2011, 17:17 1 0
RoryRevolution... The ability or inability for Sprint's signal to permeate through buildings is related to the area of the wireless 3G spectrum that they own. They have a higher frequency, which has major limitations on permeating through concrete & metal structures... Verizon's frequency is low on the spectrum and that gives them the edge with the signals. There are some positives to Sprint's frequency related to the fact that their signal can traveler a farther distance (when unimpeded). Verizon's local spectrum intensity is definitely a positive but that intense ability to reach through metal and concrete does not travel as far as a Sprint signal.
Sprint's 3G service has always been horrible. I had been with Sprint 10 years before switching to a GSM carrier. I came from a place of thinking that EVDO was revolutionary and EVDO-Rev A. would change the world!!! Lol... For the record, Verzon's 3G data is the same exact crap that Sprint has.
Verizon would have really been in trouble without that Hellified LTE Network that they currently have.
In all honesty, the only viable data network Sprint has is the 4G/ CLEARWIRE setup
36. lsutigers posted on 26 Nov 2011, 12:52 0 0
Sprint is improving their service, they have been upgrading their network and adding new cell sites here in South Florida. I think they finally realized that the speed issues were true and not going away now that the iPhone is on the Now Network. Over the last 3 months, my 3G speed has gotten much better. Go to
network.sprint.com
to see the latest network enhancements in your area.
14. BattleBrat posted on 24 Nov 2011, 21:46 2 0
It is amazing, if you go to full on apple based news sights (9to5mac, etc) Apple fans are RABID about AT&T. NOW AT&T is actually a good carrier, but it is NOT as good as Verizon. Some of these Apple fans don't realize that Steve Jobs was NOT happy with how AT&T handled their customers. All those customers coming into the Apple stores complaining about the bad reception and missed calls, Steve Jobs didn't like that, BUT AT&T was the only carrier that would drink Apple's Koolaid, When they finally did release an Iphone for Verizon, it was specially redesigned, not just for the network, but to fix the antenna issue, why? BECAUSE VERIZON MADE THEM!!! I have come to realize lately however, AT&T was never the problem, not even from the beginning. People I know on AT&T are actually happy with the coverage, and don't really have any dropped calls or anything. IT IS NOT AT&T, IT'S THE IPHONE, you see Apple makes Ipod's then they released the Iphone, but you see, Apple doesn't really make very good phones (for making calls) Everything else is awesome, but the actual phone part sucks. I've been happy with my MOTO phones for that reason, THEY KNOW HOW TO MAKE A PHONE, The Moto phones I've had always got great reception, and they hold on to a WI-FI signal quite well, I usually get 30% more wifi distance out of my Droid 1 over my Ipod touch 4th gen. Hell, Moto helped invent the damn cell phone.
So don't blame AT&T because Apple phones get poor reception, One of my friends just got an Iphone 4s to replace his HTC, and the reception is NOTICEABLY worse. He is on Sprint
23. mschmal posted on 25 Nov 2011, 10:07 2 0
Rumor has it that the iPhone uses a radio that is optimized for the how the European GSM network is designed with towers closer together. This caused the phone to not work in the US. Chalk it up to Apple's arrogance.
24. networkdood posted on 25 Nov 2011, 10:12 1 0
very true....but, AT&T did spend less money on network buildout at a time when the company was going through the growing pains of dealing with heavy data usage devices - 2008 and 2009. I actually have better coverage in home now, then in 2005/06. Well, did, now, I am with VERIZON and I get full bars 3G in home....looking forward to 4G LTE use on my RAZR someday.
16. richardyarrell2011 (banned) posted on 24 Nov 2011, 22:45 1 0
It's great to see this merger come to a close I always said this would not happen many months ago and I still stand behind that today. Kiss this merger GOODBYE sprint did it's job...
20. phunkinc posted on 25 Nov 2011, 06:35 0 0
This interests me highly being on the inside of one of these companies. I never really thought it was going through, but at this point in time it's only "temporarily" over. Either/both companies could re-enter their bids into the FCC after the DOJ Case next year (however, I don't think that will happen).
It will be interesting to see where TMo goes from here. I'd like to see them get on the up and up and get more market share. Who knows. We shall see. The spectrum/dollar payment AT&T must make if it doesn't go through is huge however.
26. networkdood posted on 25 Nov 2011, 12:45 0 0
Everyone needs to realize that the companies will continue to pursue the deal - this is not the end - yet - of the proposed merger.
27. Hunt3rj2 posted on 25 Nov 2011, 13:29 1 0
And now if T-Mobile fails AT&T will just pick up it's spectrum for pennies on the dollar and laugh all the way to the bank...
29. networkdood posted on 25 Nov 2011, 15:24 0 0
Well, I am sure there would be an auction of sorts, unless it was another merger offer. Both companies will continue to pursue the merger still after this has settled....the sooner it happens the better of everything will be. The feds should just make AT&T promise that for 5 years all jobs in the process will be safe.
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