Sprint, T-Mobile receive merger approval from Department of Justice

[Jason]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/26/sprint-t-mobile-receive-merger-approval-department-justice/

 

I've seen a lot of commentary about how this is good because Sprint is an uncompetitive zombie and it'll make T-Mobile more competitive, but that assumes T-Mobile keeps acting the way it has as a smaller underdog competitor once it becomes bigger, which I see no reason to assume will be true. Meanwhile at their current size they've already been able to force Verizon and AT&T to compete, e.g. they're the reason we got unlimited data plans (yes, I know, there's the stupid throttling after 22GB, but it's still better than strict data allocations) back. 

 

The other argument I've seen is that it guarantees that Verizon or AT&T can't scoop up Sprint's spectrum when they fail but in a sane regulatory environment that wouldn't be a concern. 

[Dodger]

I've been thinking to switching to Tmobile from Att, I gotta get my monthly bills down. 

[Reputator]

This is better than an already huge dominant carrier getting larger.

[Joe]

38 minutes ago, Jason said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/26/sprint-t-mobile-receive-merger-approval-department-justice/

 

I've seen a lot of commentary about how this is good because Sprint is an uncompetitive zombie and it'll make T-Mobile more competitive, but that assumes T-Mobile keeps acting the way it has as a smaller underdog competitor once it becomes bigger, which I see no reason to assume will be true. Meanwhile at their current size they've already been able to force Verizon and AT&T to compete, e.g. they're the reason we got unlimited data plans (yes, I know, there's the stupid throttling after 22GB, but it's still better than strict data allocations) back. 

 

The other argument I've seen is that it guarantees that Verizon or AT&T can't scoop up Sprint's spectrum when they fail but in a sane regulatory environment that wouldn't be a concern. 

 

Yeah my worry is that TMobile is going to stop being ridiculously awesome now that they kinda dont have to anymore.

[Rodimus]

It seems like these two are merging just to make it easier on the Verizon and AT&T to knock them out. Instead of taking two companies out they just plan to take out one.

[Joe]

14 minutes ago, Rodimus said:

It seems like these two are merging just to make it easier on the Verizon and AT&T to knock them out. Instead of taking two companies out they just plan to take out one.

 

Huh?

[outsida]

Selling assets to Dish is bull because Dish has never done anything with spectrum it won from the government. 

[Ghost_MH]

It looks like it's confirmed. Dish will be the one picking the Boost Mobile and launch as a fourth nationwide player in this space.

 

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/26/8931827/dish-carrier-plans-5g-network-tmobile-sprint-us-confirms

 

I guess Dish is finally going to do something with all the spectrum they've been hording. They now have 7 years to roll out a nation-wide network or else they'll wind up with customers with no access to Dish cellular.

[outsida]

4 minutes ago, BlueAngel said:

Network wise Verizon and AT&T won't be able to compete with T-Mobile, T-Mobile has nothing to fear.

I guess a merged T-Mobile/Sprint has the greatest potential for sub-6Ghz 5G if that spectrum isn’t being sold to dish. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

AT&T are a bunch of fucking crooks. When I bought my last phone those fuckers wanted to charge me a fee for buying the phone in store. Not for leasing the phone, not for getting it free, paying the full amount out of pocket for the phone. I was already going to buy the phone case there, despite the mark up, for the convenience. 

 

But nope. I am not gonna pay $20+ for the “privilege” of sitting through upsale pitches in every service AT&T offers just to buy the phone in one of their stores. I just bought my phone online at the apple store and had it shipped. I just had to wait another couple days. 

 

At&T are so fucking stupid. They voided a 800+ transaction, because they couldn’t get around their in store fee. Meanwhile once I got my new phone, I just move the SIM card, downloaded the app to transfer my files, and done. 

[Zaku3]

56 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

AT&T are a bunch of fucking crooks. When I bought my last phone those fuckers wanted to charge me a fee for buying the phone in store. Not for leasing the phone, not for getting it free, paying the full amount out of pocket for the phone. I was already going to buy the phone case there, despite the mark up, for the convenience. 

 

But nope. I am not gonna pay $20+ for the “privilege” of sitting through upsale pitches in every service AT&T offers just to buy the phone in one of their stores. I just bought my phone online at the apple store and had it shipped. I just had to wait another couple days. 

 

At&T are so fucking stupid. They voided a 800+ transaction, because they couldn’t get around their in store fee. Meanwhile once I got my new phone, I just move the SIM card, downloaded the app to transfer my files, and done. 

 

Most people just accept it. And when you are a company so big it somewhat doesn't matter if a few individuals don't want to pay the 20 dollar upgrade fee. Those people can order online.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

3 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

Most people just accept it. And when you are a company so big it somewhat doesn't matter if a few individuals don't want to pay the 20 dollar upgrade fee. Those people can order online.

 

Most people don’t buy their phone in full. They either opt to pay it off over a couple years in their bill or do some contract re-up free thing. To do that they have no choice but to pay the in store fee. 

[NeoandGeo]

2 hours ago, Reputator said:

This is better than an already huge dominant carrier getting larger.

Yep. Hopefully T-Mobile can make good use of the CDMA portion of Sprint. I laughed when I heard about the merger being approved, followed by the deal being blasted by critics saying it would be bad for consumers. The proper way to state that is "ATT & Verizon, after meeting with their lobbyists and shareholders, say this is a bad move for their bottom line and their plans for a more complete Duopoly."

[NeoandGeo]

Possibly, but their fears should in turn lead to all 3 providing better and more competitive services for all consumers. 

[TwinIon]

Any shrinking of consumer choice in a market this limited is bound to be bad. It's pretty laughable that a fourth option will be created to replace losing that forth option to a merger, when you could just not approve the merger in the first place. Maybe Dish can turn itself into a worthwhile competitor, but you know what is much more likely than that? The fourth option we already have. I don't see any reason that the new T-Mobile will do anything but become another AT&T/VZW, all following in each others footsteps whenever anyone comes up with a new way to screw consumers.

[mclumber1]

5 hours ago, Dodger said:

I've been thinking to switching to Tmobile from Att, I gotta get my monthly bills down. 

 

Google Fi is pretty good.  It auto switches between Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular towers depending on which one has the best signal. 

[Jason]

18 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

Any shrinking of consumer choice in a market this limited is bound to be bad. It's pretty laughable that a fourth option will be created to replace losing that forth option to a merger, when you could just not approve the merger in the first place. Maybe Dish can turn itself into a worthwhile competitor, but you know what is much more likely than that? The fourth option we already have. I don't see any reason that the new T-Mobile will do anything but become another AT&T/VZW, all following in each others footsteps whenever anyone comes up with a new way to screw consumers.

 

Just look at Canada to see how much having a big 3 increases competition, right, @CitizenVectron?

[Joe]

12 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

 

Google Fi is pretty good.  It auto switches between Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular towers depending on which one has the best signal. 

 

I'm kind of a data whore though. It would be more expensive than TMobile for me.

[CitizenVectron]

20 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

Just look at Canada to see how much having a big 3 increases competition, right, @CitizenVectron?

 

In general Canada has 3 major carriers (Rogers, Bell, and Telus, colloquilly called "Robellus"). They are horrible for the market, and openly collude. The government wants a fourth national carrier, but every attempt has failed due to anti-competitive practices from the other three. The only provinces that have decent rates and plans (still far worse than the US) are those with independent fourth carriers. My province is the best off, as we have a government-owned Telco called Sasktel, which means our rates are anywhere from 30-50% lower than the national average, even with a tiny and 1/2 rural population (1.1 million). Other provinces had similar setups, but Robellus have slowly bought them out. Our current provincial government mulled selling Sasktel to Bell, but fortunately the public outrage was too great for that.

 

So yeah, you guys might think that going from four to three is a good deal...but it's not.

[Dodger]

I don't think anyone thinks this will be a good deal so much as we're just hoping we won't get fucked.

 

Spoilers, we will. 

[finaljedi]

4 hours ago, TwinIon said:

Any shrinking of consumer choice in a market this limited is bound to be bad. It's pretty laughable that a fourth option will be created to replace losing that forth option to a merger, when you could just not approve the merger in the first place. Maybe Dish can turn itself into a worthwhile competitor, but you know what is much more likely than that? The fourth option we already have. I don't see any reason that the new T-Mobile will do anything but become another AT&T/VZW, all following in each others footsteps whenever anyone comes up with a new way to screw consumers. 

 

When was the last time Sprint was an actual contender?  I think back around the time smart phones got their start in like 2009 or 2010, then they bet on wimax, t-mobile got competitive and they couldn't keep up.  I feel like there are probably more people using Sprint's network through a low cost MVNO than using actual Sprint.

[Jason]

7 minutes ago, BlueAngel said:

As per the deal T-Mobile can't increase prices for 3 years, Dish has a shit ton of spectrum it will be gravy. This is a great thing for everyone.

 

Oh man, 3 whole years, and I'm sure the feds will TOTALLY hold T-Mobile accountable if they start doing stealth price increases by tacking on bullshit fees.

[TwinIon]

On 7/26/2019 at 5:53 PM, finaljedi said:

When was the last time Sprint was an actual contender?  I think back around the time smart phones got their start in like 2009 or 2010, then they bet on wimax, t-mobile got competitive and they couldn't keep up.  I feel like there are probably more people using Sprint's network through a low cost MVNO than using actual Sprint.

They haven't been a real competitor, but they have held a consistent ~12% market share. As T-Mobile has grown, they've mostly been pulling customers from the big two.

Source.

 

That doesn't include prepaid customers.

 

So yeah, Sprint hasn't been making a big splash, but they are a consistent presence, they have a built out infrastructure, marketing, brand, etc.  Even with all their spectrum, what are the odds that Dish will be able to grab more than 10% of the market in any reasonable amount of time? They've been sitting in roughly the same position for years now, and it's not clear to me that this deal makes the market easier for them to enter, or that they get enough out of it to have a much better chance at success.