AT&T to buy T-Mobile

Azza · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:05

So it seems a deal has been agreed for AT&T to buy T-mobile for a massive $39 billion.

Every website I've read about this deals, comments from Americans basically saying how rubbish AT&T are over there.

Loads of people who moved from AT&T to T-mobile just to get away from them.

HumanShield · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:07

This is just for the USA, which makes the $39 billion seem quite a lot!

And it isnt even for a 100% share!

Sunbed · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:25

It seems like there is virtually no competition in the US.

I thought the UK was bad with the lack of differentiation between carriers, but in the US they have what..? ATT and Verizon? Also Sprint but they must be tiny in comparison.

Tunney · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:30

Sundance said:
I thought the UK was bad with the lack of differentiation between carriers, but in the US they have what..? ATT and Verizon? Also Sprint but they must be tiny in comparison.

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile were the only providers who covered the whole of the US. There are also regional carriers such as US Cellular and Cellular South, who have roaming agreements with the big boys.

But, yes, this is bad news for US consumers. It's going to be a straight fight between Verizon and AT&T eventually.

rypt · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:48

Don't Voda part own Verizon?

shine · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:51

rypt said:
Don't Voda part own Verizon?

Verizon wireless is a joint venture between Vodafone and Verizon.

Tunney · 21 Mar 2011 at 13:56

rypt said:
Don't Voda part own Verizon?

45% share, but they have no real say into how Verizon Wireless is run.

Marvin · 21 Mar 2011 at 14:00

$39 billion does sound quite pricey for just the US side of things. Glad it doesn't affect us over here, as AT&T sound crap to be honest. Every US tech site that runs an AT&T related story just fills with comments about how s**** they are...

But the American authorities don't seem to mind monopolies...

HumanShield · 21 Mar 2011 at 14:06

HumanShield said:
And it isnt even for a 100% share!

Hate to quote myself, but it would appear the BBC have not exactly explained themselves well!

Looks like T-mobile USA will be 100% owned by AT&T it would seem, but Deutsche Telekom will own 8% of AT&T with the $14bn shares

Myshra · 21 Mar 2011 at 15:48

Marvin said:
$39 billion does sound quite pricey for just the US side of things. Glad it doesn't affect us over here, as AT&T sound crap to be honest. Every US tech site that runs an AT&T related story just fills with comments about how s**** they are...

But the American authorities don't seem to mind monopolies...

It's cheap if you ask me, this stops Sprint buying them instead. It's a much much more different market out there than over here, the choice for most things in America is pretty restricted (like 1 DSL provider for an entire town and the like). To me it was a strategic buyout more than anything else.

The UK has one of the most competitive markets in Europe in all honesty, whether you agree with the prices they use is a different issue

Azza · 21 Mar 2011 at 16:15

HumanShield said:
Hate to quote myself, but it would appear the BBC have not exactly explained themselves well!

Looks like T-mobile USA will be 100% owned by AT&T it would seem, but Deutsche Telekom will own 8% of AT&T with the $14bn shares

Yeah, its a cash & shares deal. So DT will still have that 8% in the new company.

On all the news sites Americans saying how they are going to switch to Sprint or Verizon. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. The American mobile network market just seems really strange.

sanaxe1 · 21 Mar 2011 at 16:23

Looks like they will nearly of gone full circle.