NY Attorney General to Review AT&T, T-Mobile Deal:concerned

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/03/29/business/AP-US-ATT-New-York.html?hp

New York's attorney general will analyze AT&T Inc.'s planned purchase of T-Mobile USA from Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG to see if it could harm competition in that state.

AT&T said last week that it will buy T-Mobile in a $39 billion cash-and-stock deal. The acquisition is expected to take more than a year to close, after scrutiny from federal regulators.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday he is concerned the deal would mean fewer wireless service choices for consumers and that it could lead to higher cellphone bills.

"Cell phones are no longer a luxury for a few among us, but a basic necessity. The last thing New Yorkers need during these difficult economic times is to see cell phone prices rise," he said in a statement.

[midnight]

1. This is a thoughtful comment....

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. ...and then let it slide through.

GUARANTEED

[tularetom]

3. Especially discouraging to those of us who switched to T-mobile because of ATT's shitty service

Verizon is even worse however.

[Xithras]

4. There's no such thing as "good" cell service in the U.S.

Verizon = Sky high prices and dog slow data connections.
AT&T = Terrible service, terrible citizenship, and constant dropped calls.
T-Mobile = Great if you live in an urban area, but forget about getting bars anywhere else.
Sprint = ....do I really need to say it?

[hlthe2b]

5. I agree there is no such thing as "good" cell service in US

that said, Sprint is reliable in my area, has been throughout my business travel across the US, and certainly ranks well above AT&T in most areas of the country. I've spent my hours angrily fighting "customer service" with Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the past. So, I am very well aware that they all tend to suck on that score. That said, I can honestly say that I have seen a very concerted effort on Sprint's part to turn that part around. I get call backs on time as promised when I've had an issue. Yes, they still have overseas call centers as part of that, but I've figured out how to work around them to get to someone with the knowledge, authority, and willingness to assist. Something I could NEVER do with Verizon.

So, yes, cell service sucks in the US compared to much of the rest of the world. But, what really sucks is that Verizon and At&T will come out on top-- the first being the very worst in customer service (and attitude) and the second, the very worst in access and basic wireless capacity.

[starroute]

6. Hinging it entirely on prices makes me nervous

We've seen this too many times before. The proposed merger gets reduced to a question of "will costs go up," the company promises to hold the line for a couple of years, and the thing goes through.

Meanwhile, all the other questions -- about choice, options, and quality of service -- have been swept under the rug.

We need to make it very clear that pricing is not the only issue -- and let the people making the decisions know how we feel.