AT&T Purchasing T-Mobile Becoming Largest U.S. Cellular Provider

Deutsche Telecom today confirmed the acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T Telecom. The boards of directors of both companies have had their say and approved this merger.  With AT&T purchasing T-Mobile it becomes the largest wireless provider in the United States.

If expanded and approved by the regulatory committee AT&T would then be able to reach 95% of the market with 4G data plans and be the largest cellular data network in the country as well.  Consumers may find further frustration as AT&T becomes more powerful and has one less competitor in wireless services. T-Mobile offers the largest 4G network in the country currently.

One of the great things about the terrible cell phone providers is that there were at least a few similar choices.  now it seems that Verizon and AT&T will continue their struggle knowing full well that one less option is viable for consumers to turn to. Thus their power increases in concentration and less focus needs to be placed on customer service and retention.

As cell phone enthusiasts have found out with let downs in their service like Chadwick Vargas, "Its not the size of the network, its the quality". Many similar opinions are being voiced in the thousands from people wanting cheaper plans and better quality across the board.

This $39 billion acquisition is also a big boost for GSM card technology which was employed by both networks and is an international standard.  The 4G technology and bands that T-Mobile has in its possession will be a huge tool for AT&T to improve their spotty network of data in many areas of the network and possible increase overall speed.  These numbers however do not always translate to performance especially in high population density areas.

I would expect higher prices with lower satisfaction rates as things continue after the merger.  The questionable necessity of all of the current workforce position may also shrink as an emblematic sign of disregard for personnel and a focus on bottom line stock prices which would promptly rise on the increased value of the bottom line on the finance sheet.

Optimistically this deal brings better network service but creates a much larger and predictable downslide on the consumer end of the equation.  We will have to wait and see how many bars of clarity this merger creates and if the dropped calls get any better as AT&T continues to rise in power.