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[DrFunk]

On the positive side, buying unlocked phones just got a load easier since all GSM bands onw operate under one telco

 

[clav]

Yeah, the only thing that gives me comfort is that they've honored the iPhone unlimited plans for so long. Maybe I should switch soon for that reason. Sprint and VZW are just too expensive and I HATE VZW.

*facepalm*

You don't know what you're talking about.

 

[UrokeJoe]

Am I the only person that has no problem with AT&T ?? I have the same bill every month, they just gave me free mobile to mobile calling so now I only
Lose minutes when I call landlines. All for like 90 bucks and unlimited everything else... What am I missing?

I've had no problems with AT&T as well here in Santa Barbara. Just works.

The only time I've had a problem was in Big Bear last year skiing. No service for a day. It happened to everyone on the mountain while people on Verizon were fine.

 

[richiek]

What happens to her?

In a threesome with these two guys.

 

[Seda]

If you prefer tiered data plans.

GAF, where a difference of opinion is a declaration of war.

 

[Gallbaro]

Sprint wanted to merge the third and fourth largest USA carriers together (Sprint and T-Mobile) to catch up to the competition.

As for the cell phone tech (GSM and CDMA), I don't know what they planned to do with that. My guess was to keep the two together.

The talks did happen twice apparently.

Sprint has a history of merging incomparable networks, nextel was neither a CDMA or GSM.

 

[Suikoguy]

I would support an outside company buying T mobile, but not a cell phone carrier.

Would be awesome with a company with some resources to come in an buy T Mobile, expand the network more and make it a 4 way competition..

Narrowing it down to Sprint, Verizon and ATT sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I might also consider a Sprint TMobile merger, however that would work.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Guys, don't worry! This is the free market talking and this is actually the best thing for consumers! Consumers, and not suits in a corporate office, decided this and has our best interests at heart! nVidiot_Warrior will explain further, I'm sure!

 

[clav]

Sprint has a history of merging incomparable networks, nextel was neither a CDMA or GSM.

Yeah they're still working on a PTT replacement.

 

[numble]

It won't improve until your phone can physically operate on both networks AND has the firmware support to do so.

The press release says it would take 5 years for AT&T to buy land and build towers that T-Mobile owns. They just need to climb up each one and stick their own antenna on there, which is less time consuming than finding and buying land and building out actual towers.

 

[BertramCooper]

You'd think the FTC would appreciate the danger of telecommunication consolidation.

We've been through this shit already. Let's not do it again.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

My hope is that the FTC blocks this and Google swoops in to buy T-Mobile USA

 

[maruchan]

neo-liberalism at its finest.. god bless adam smith, and Ricardo, and Friedrich von Hayek...

 

[Y2Kev]

how does sprint have any money?

 

[JABEE]

Will T-Mobile users now be able to use the iPhone without having to unlock their phones or does there need to be a contract negotiated with Apple to allow this to happen? Will T-Mobile users flock to iPhone instead of the other Android devices that could be used on T-Mobile? What does this all mean?

 

[Sanic]

This is really disappointing.

 

[gimmmick]

This can only be good news for sprint now. Hopefully they'll be able to gobble up the people that will switch over from t mobile.

Kinda of sucks that there will only be 3 big carriers in the US. Look how bad the telecom industry is with Canada.

 

[Dr. Malik]

how does sprint have any money?

By taking mine?

 

[numble]

My hope is that the FTC blocks this and Google swoops in to buy T-Mobile USA

And then Verizon and AT&T, with 80% of the market, stop selling Android phones.

Will T-Mobile users now be able to use the iPhone without having to unlock their phones or does there need to be a contract negotiated with Apple to allow this to happen? Will T-Mobile users flock to iPhone instead of the other Android devices that could be used on T-Mobile? What does this all mean?

It's going to be awhile before anything tangible should happen--the FCC would need to clear the merger, for one.

 

[BeEatNU]

AT&T is going to fuck shit up, its the past happening all over again!

They will get so big then will have to split again :/

 

[clav]

how does sprint have any money?

Good question yet they somehow have money to sponsor NASCAR.

 

[Tobor]

The press release says it would take 5 years for AT&T to buy land and build towers that T-Mobile owns. They just need to climb up each one and stick their own antenna on there, which is less time consuming than finding and buying land and building out actual towers.

Yeah, this is a big deal for AT&T. They can instantly make dramatic improvements to their network and pick up enough customers to pull far ahead of Verizon.

 

[Iron_Scimitar]

GAF, where a difference of opinion is a declaration of war.

War? Im not taking this as serious as you clearly are.

Sprint is still the only major carrier that offers an unlimited data plan as well as unlimited mobile-to-mobile. Verizon nickle and dimes for everything that you do.

 

[Blackhead]

You mean the company which advocated AGAINST net neutrality for mobile internet? Yeah, good luck with that.

Surely Google has learnt their lesson by now. Ditched by Verizon for the iPhone. AT&T swallowing their other major partner, T-mobile. Just release three unlocked phones in the nexus line, all dual gsm+cdma at $250, $400, and $550 price points then iterate from there. if google plays by the carrier's rules it'll be eaten alive.

I'm now taking bets that AT&T has a deal with amazon to kick the google market of the android phones on that carrier and replace it with the new amazon android store. Anybody?

 

[Gallbaro]

Guys, don't worry! This is the free market talking and this is actually the best thing for consumers! Consumers, and not suits in a corporate office, decided this and has our best interests at heart! nVidiot_Warrior will explain further, I'm sure!

You think you would have networks capable of HD Video without competition?

 

[Wads]

AT&T is going to fuck shit up, its the past happening all over again!

They will get so big then will have to split again :/

Sadly, our govt doesn't give a shit about monopolies anymore so there's no way in hell that will happen. They are all corporate shills so this will pass with no problem.

 

[SoulPlaya]

AT&T is going to fuck shit up, its the past happening all over again!

They will get so big then will have to split again :/

They won't be split again.

 

[JABEE]

When is it going to get to the point where someone or anything actually splits AT&T? How does that happen?

 

[Iron_Scimitar]

how does sprint have any money?

Influx of new customers thanks to the EVO.

 

[qcf x2]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the iPhone 5? With AT&T not being on the ball with 4G and Verizon already making nice with Apple, I'm thinking this might be a way for AT&T to secure exclusivity again or keep Verizon from gaining exclusivity.

 

[Tobor]

AT&T is going to fuck shit up, its the past happening all over again!

They will get so big then will have to split again :/

Not as long as Verizon is around.

Sprint is next, I imagine. Verizon will buy them and we'll end up with a duopoly.

 

[brotkasten]

Google must save us somehow. Do something Google!

Save you? Did you forget something?

(I love this .gif)

 

[clav]

Influx of new customers thanks to the EVO.

Sprint's only recently started to be in the green.

 

[numble]

Yeah, this is a big deal for AT&T. They can instantly make dramatic improvements to their network and pick up enough customers to pull far ahead of Verizon.

Plus voice is already on the same frequencies, so it should automatically improve phone service (not data service) without extra antennas.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

And then Verizon and AT&T, with 80% of the market, stop selling Android phones.

Because cutting off your nose to spite your face is such a brilliant idea.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

So then your reason for complaining about how your service will magically go to shit despite more towers was? Trolling?

More like not wanting to be part of a shit company. I'm sure we'll have a great time when it comes time to re-up our existing contracts... Given past performance, it'll be met with incompetence or probably restrictions and extra conditions when you want to get a new device. Not to mention the carrier is known for locking down and messing with Android releases.

To get unlimited data, texts, and 400min with included tethering for my smartphone, I pay about $80/month on T-Mobile. For that same thing minus tethering on AT&T, you're looking at about $105-$110 per month. If you want to match and add tethering, since it is considered another service even though it makes no difference as long as you don't go over any hard or soft data caps, will cost an extra $20/month to your plan. That's fucking horseshit. Plus their customer service is atrocious. I will say their coverage is good, but that is only one part of the equasion in cell providers.

I got away from AT&T in the past when I had the iPhone just because of crap like the above.

 

[SoulPlaya]

Save you? Did you forget something?

(I love this .gif)

Damn!

 

[ElectricThunder]

AT&T is going to fuck shit up, its the past happening all over again!

They will get so big then will have to split again :/

Wouldn't be so sure about the latter this go round----now we've got Citizens United and the like to make sure those gears of government are lubed up real nice!

Arrgh, there has got to be some manner of forward looking, open, communication apparatus for the common good of mankind.

 

[RBH]

Fuuuuck!!

I've ben with tmobile in atlanta since they were powertel, so more than 15 years. Verizon or Sprint?

How has tmobile been for you in Atlanta? Everyone I know with tmobile in the metro Atlanta area has always complained about dropped calls and such.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I would support an outside company buying T mobile, but not a cell phone carrier.

Would be awesome with a company with some resources to come in an buy T Mobile, expand the network more and make it a 4 way competition..

Narrowing it down to Sprint, Verizon and ATT sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I might also consider a Sprint TMobile merger, however that would work.

Well there are still regional carriers, so it isnt a three way competition like that...

 

[jamesinclair]

Mr. Obama, tear down that Monopoly!

This shit can't be allowed.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

This is bad news.

And I don't expect the FTC to stop it, either.

sadly, I agree.

This really is unacceptable.

 

[Gwanatu T]

I originally switched to T-Mobile when AT&T bought Cingular because they COMPLETELY screwed up my service. I hope the same thing doesn't happen again. Ill never get phones for as cheep as I have with T-Mobile! Damnit!!

 

[Seda]

War? Im not taking this as serious as you clearly are.

Sprint is still the only major carrier that offers an unlimited data plan as well as unlimited mobile-to-mobile. Verizon nickle and dimes for everything that you do.

I wasn't making the claim Verizon was cheaper. And isn't Verizon's 30 dollar data plan unlimited? (Honest question, not being coy)

 

[Tobor]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the iPhone 5? With AT&T not being on the ball with 4G and Verizon already making nice with Apple, I'm thinking this might be a way for AT&T to secure exclusivity again or keep Verizon from gaining exclusivity.

Apple is done with exclusivity. They'll stick with Verizon and AT&T going forward.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Fuck. We use a pre-paid T-Mobile cell phone specifically to avoid AT&T and Verizon. Might have to ditch them in favor of some smaller carrier if they start to fuck with the plan terms.

Which they will.

 

[Kccitystar]

^^^^^

What happens to her?

NEW NEW NEW NEW WORLD ORDER

 

[DrFunk]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the iPhone 5? With AT&T not being on the ball with 4G and Verizon already making nice with Apple, I'm thinking this might be a way for AT&T to secure exclusivity again or keep Verizon from gaining exclusivity.

Doubtful, more than anything, this is a way for ATT to save their ass from their royal fuck up of their HSPA+ rollout. The iPhone 5 will be on Verizon and ATT just like clockwork

 

[Kodiak690]

Whaaaaaaaaa? Sprint is hella cheap and everything is unlimited besides calls to land lines. Most of my calls end up being to other cell phones anyway, which is unlimited. I've been with every carrier at one point or another and Sprint is easily the cheapest so far for what you get.

I only have myself and my mother on my family plan. My gf is with her family. My mom can barely text, much less use a smart phone. If I go with sprint, It's going to cost me a good $30+ more per month. If they had a plan with fewer minutes (we use very few per month), that was cheaper, it'd probably work. Not everyone needs unlimited everything, and I'm not paying for it if I don't need it.

Sprint is great if you have 2+ people who use a ton of minutes/data/texts. But they don't work for me.. Unless they would release a plan with maybe 500 minutes per month.

Plus the reception is terrible where I work (where I would want to tether 90% of the time) with Sprint.

 

[Kccitystar]

I only have myself and my mother on my family plan. My gf is with her family. My mom can barely text, much less use a smart phone. If I go with sprint, It's going to cost me a good $30+ more per month. If they had a plan with fewer minutes (we use very few per month), that was cheaper, it'd probably work. Not everyone needs unlimited everything, and I'm not paying for it if I don't need it.

Sprint is great if you have 2+ people who use a ton of minutes/data/texts. But they don't work for me.. Unless they would release a plan with maybe 500 minutes per month.

Plus the reception is terrible where I work (where I would want to tether 90% of the time) with Sprint.

They already do. It's called the Everything Data 450 for 69.99. It's their bread and butter, I believe.