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Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

AT&T buys T-Mobile - How do customers feel about that?

By | March 21, 2011, 5:18am PDT

Summary: On Sunday, Deutsche Telekom agreed to the sale of T-Mobile USA to AT&T in a deal worth some $39 billion. But how to customers of T-Mobile feel about that?

On Sunday, Deutsche Telekom agreed to the sale of T-Mobile USA to AT&T in a deal worth some $39 billion. But how to customers of T-Mobile feel about that?

Poll

T-Mobile customers - What do YOU think of the AT&T buyout?

Let’s take the temperature of the T-Mobile support forum shall we. The overall vibe - customers aren’t very happy about the deal.

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I hate this. Every time I run away from AT&T they buy up who I ran to.

I really dislike AT&T. We can expect constant rate increases as they squeeze as much cash out of us as they think they can get away with.

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i’m hoping they don’t touch the plans but i know that’s a fool’s wish. i left them too a while ago due to the horrible prices, network and customer service…

now i guess it’s one of those “if you can’t beat them or in my case escape them” you might as well enjoy the deathstar lol

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 Oh no

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 Yeah, lol, I guess we’re part of the Empire now.

I went from Verizon [back in the day they kinda suk'd, too] to AT&T; hated it; went to Cingular, which got bought by AT&T, so they pulled me back in; then to T-Mobile; and back to AT&T.

I guess there’s no escaping my destiny. Here AT&T. Here’s my Bank Pin Number. Let’s get this over with…

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This SUCKS I left AT&T because of their **bleep** customer service plans sucked and so on. I just signed a new two year agreement woth T-mo and I wonder if It will still stick after the merger? If not BYE BYE early term fee I’ll go to boost mobile or something with a sim and fully UNLOCK my mytouch 4g and use it on their service.

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This is very upsetting news …..Please say it aint so!!!!!! I have never had a problem with tmobile i guess that all comes to a end now I had at&t early 2000 and i hated them They sent me a 700 dollar bill for roaming charges!!!!!! This is a sad day in cell phone history…… WHY TMOBILE WHY????????

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I have a year left with T-Mobile and then I am done with them - if it’s AT&T then I am done with them also!

had them years back and not a nice company to deal with back then and from what I read now about AT&T not nice over seas or in the USA!

Watch your bills and prices I am telling you just a warning cause big changes are coming ASAP 

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Count me in as an ex ATT user who switched for many reasons….looks like I’ll be switching again.

I’ll wait to see what happens in the near future first, it’s not like we’ll all automatically switch to ATTs spotty coverage, crappy signal, and bad customer service. But if it happens, the way it did with Cingular, then yea I’ll be jumping ship. This is the exact reason why I never re-upped my contract, we negotiated a great contract a few years ago and simply bought phones out right since. This way I can jump ship at a moments notice. 

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I left ATT for a reason, and now, absent government intervention, I’m back to them without a choice. It would be nice if as part of government approval, I would be allowed to terminate my contract without penalty, but we all know that won’t happen. Let’s all get prepared for absolutly zero customer service and greatly increased rates. TM can now officially kiss my a@@, as I already told that to ATT by leaving them as a customer.

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This is really bad news. AT&T is the WORST cell phone carrier in the world. Pray that the FCC doesn’t approve this deal, if it’s not already too late.

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Without a doubt. I will leave T-mobile if they become ATT.. I came to T-mobile from ATT for a reason.

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Some are a little more optimistic:

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Take a chill pill, everyone. I haven’t seen any info about the nature of this purchase. Will T-Mo continue to operate as a separate entity, with their own plans and their own customer service? Or will they be absorbed into one operation? As far as I’ve heard, that hasn’t been announced yet. And of course there is still regulatory approval in the way.

The worst part of this news is that we won’t get to see that cute chick in the magenta dress making fun of ATT anymore!……..Jake 

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Overall, the feeling amongst T-Mobile customers is that this isn’t going to be a good thing for customers. Many seem to feel this way because of past bad experiences with AT&T. It seems that if people keep to their word, T-Mobile is going to be seeing an exodus of customers over the coming months and years. But where will they go?

Are you affected by this? What are your thoughts? If you used to be an AT&T customer and moved to T-Mobile to get away from it, how do you feel about being back with AT&T again?

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Topics

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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I'm still trying to figure out
ljl@... 31st Aug
how AT&T got so big with so many customers so unhappy with their service. Is this all due to the iPhone? Even an iPhone couldn't tempt me to put up with such expensive and bad service.

I have a friend who would rather jailbreak his iPhone and sign on with T-Mobile. Personally, I would just as soon go with Android and ditch AT&T. If AT&T is the bigger carrier, then we consumers have only ourselves to blame for making them get that way.

I left them in the 1990's because of poor service and went with the smaller Omnipoint, which is now T-Mobile.

I never regretted that decision, until this merger was announced. It is a bad thing all around because it leaves AT&T practically the only gsm provider in the country, after swallowing both Cingular and T-Mobile. That means monopoly, and all the bad consequences that usually go along with it.
Like many other posters, I left AT&T because of their terrible service, dropped calls all over NYC, and expensive plans. I will not remain a customer after this merger.
@gmcurran@...
and if they mess up T-Mobile's customer service, who will be left to go to?

Verizon, as Sprint's not in all that much better shape, and Verizon will probally scarf them up because they're CDMA like Verizon.
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@gmcurran@...

Maybe that's because the Tmo towers are better, at least for you. They won't be tearing them down after the merger.
@Michael Kelly You may not remember when T-Mobile decided to make their own GSM network and not use AT&T's but when they did AT&T was made to get rid of a lot of the towers they were sharing with T-Mobile because they were "to close to each other". Thats when the crappy AT&T service started in the first place. I think the same thing will happen with T-Mobile's towers if this buy out goes through.
  • Flagged
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This is terrible news! My contract with AT&T runs out in July and I was looking forward to moving to T-Mobile. I have an unlock IPhone and have no intentions of staying with AT&T.
@rfountn@... Sell your GSM iphone and go with Verizon and get theirs.
@rfountn@... you are exactly correct...at and t gives horrible service for very, very pricey contracts.
@gmcurran@... GET THIS...I BOUTGH IPHONE CLASSIC ON AT&T HAD SERVICE FOR 5 MONTHS, THEN ALL THE SUDDEN NO SERVICE. TURNS OUT ATT WAS SUBLEASING A TMOBILE TOWER AND DECIDED NOT TO SUBLEASE IT ANY MORE....NO NOTICE NO NOTHING FROM ATT. NO ATT FOR ME AT ANY COSTS!
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Towers
duckles10 21st Mar 2011
@rjh@...
Actually the AT&T service should get better if the integrate the T-Mobile towers. I have been on an AT&T family plan with 5 phones for years. Quite cost effective. We actually share the plan with our daughters family.
@duckles10@...
Check the prices on TMO's family rate plans and tell me AT&T's are cost effective. TMO's plans are way cheaper for the stock plans and cheaper on additional services too (i.e. unlimited data for less than AT&T capped limits, unlimited texts for cheaper, detailed billing included not charged extra, etc...). Service is great, and I've never waited more than 5 minutes for a representative when I've call customer service.
I've left AT&T twice before due to poor service and lies! Unfortunately, they keep buying up the competition! We're month to month with T-Mobile now, so we'll be switching immediately.
@gmcurran@...
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American Telephone and WHAT?
jparr 22nd Mar 2011
Should be called "American Telephone and Bad Service, Exhorbitant Rates, Bad Quality, Late to Market, and Screw All The Customers". Of course AT&BSERBQL2M&SATC doesn't look as nice next to the blue and white logo.

The second "T" (or is it "t") still stands for "Telegraph?" That tells me ALL I need to know about what kind of CELL PHONE service I'm going to get.
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@gmcurran@... I don't blame you. I had att for my land line which I no longer have due to their constant price hikes. I had them as a provider for my first mobile phone and that did not pan out either. To many drop calls and excessive pricing. I went to US Cellular where I got excellent service, no drop calls and early upgrades in a little as of ten months Check them out
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Need another choice on the Poll
bobiroc 21st Mar 2011
Because I am unsure if this is good or bad. Even though I already get good cell service with AT&T I hope that this will improve the service especially on the data side. I haven't dropped a call or missed a call due to lack of coverage in a long time but find sometimes the data can be unavailable or slow. Usually this happens when I am in a congested area like in the city limits or at a large function like a ball game or a concert.

All I hope is that it does not affect the employees of either companies resulting in layoffs and loss of jobs.
@bobiroc The Poll is for T-Mobile users, not ATT slackers
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@aced7 how are AT&T customers slackers? Just because we get a signal in my area unlike Tmobile customers?

BTW- Last time I checked the forums were open to everyone.
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@aced7 Funny there was nothing on the poll to indicate WHO it was meant for if it was meant for a certain group of people you pretentious little troll boy. Or did you forget in your haste to try to talk smack that you were not whining on the T-Mobile forums. What a douche-bag you are!
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Naturally it'll be a good thing for AT&T users....
Monarky Updated - 22nd Mar 2011
@aced7 .....just bad for T-Mobile users and I'm so sure this poll is NOT limited to just T-Mobile or AT&T customers anyway. I'm on Sprint and see this as a very bad thing for all competition.

Sprint will always have some advantages over GSM and LTE. Like only needing backhaul infrastructure setup with single towers covering a 25mile radius on WiMax. That just got expanded to more major cities than LTE will have in a year. But the expense is still in the backhaul not the towers for WiMax. LTE is far more expensive without being that much faster and 10x more expensive to build!!!

Best deal for the public would have been a T-Mobile and Sprint deal with Sprint/Clearwire able to piggyback WiMax towers on existing GSM towers with some backhaul already in place. That would mean more 4G available to more people even quicker than LTE could deliver over years of !!!
@cgeier77
Because we are the ones who will be facing huge rate increases when this goes thru, that's why. And my signal is, and has always been fine since the days of Voicestream when I first signed up with them.

Even if the signal/service is exactly the same, TMO customers still lose. AT&T doesn't have a single rate plan that can compete with TMO in terms of pricing, period.
TMobile people are already okay with the smaller network and willing to pay less for less... this is a win for ATT customers because they want the network built out more and this will increase redundency and reliability. Europe has a much better system where you have one big GSM network and various carriers can sell plans and do provisioning. Doesn't make sense to me to have separate towers or backhaul for parallel 3G networks. Get over it TMobile customers!
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Separate Networks.
duckles10 Updated - 21st Mar 2011
@teetee1970
I alway wonder why we make our businesses duplicate everything instead of sharing infrastructure like other places.
@teetee1970 "and willing to pay less for less..."
How do we pay less for less. I see it as we are paying less for more. I get more minutes on a cheaper plan, cheaper unlimited text, cheaper unlimited data, and free detailed billing. I have 3 phones on a plan. 2 of them have unlimited data, 1 has unlimited web, and all 3 have unlimited text for less than $160 a month after taxes. And I have no issues with signal strength or 3g where I am whatsoever. Show me that deal with AT&T. It doesn't exist.
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I guess I'm one of the few...
Scubajrr 21st Mar 2011
I'm happy with my AT&T service. I live in NJ and do a lot of business travel to the southwest and south. I have always had good service. I tried Verizon for a 2 year contract which I broke because of continual fighting over billing errors and poor service. I switched to Cingular (Pre AT&T) and never had to look back. Of course I'm one of those relics that use their cell phones to make phone calls, (no data plan, no internet surfing) so I can't comment on that service. Last year when it was time for contract renewal and new phones I checked into the competition, but no one else offered a comparable family plan a comparable price point. So for me, AT&T has been a better provider than any of their competitors.
@Scubajrr

I am in that few too. Been with AT&T since before they were Cingular. Before that was PrimeCo (Remember them?)

Verizon also provides good cell service in my area but based on my Parents and In-Laws experience with their billing and customer service I will never go to them. Some may say that AT&T has poor customer service but I cannot say that is true overall. I have all my Services through AT&T (Both Home Phone and Cell, Internet, and TV) The TV is supplied by DirectTV but billed through AT&T and with the package discounts plus the discounts I get for working in Education it is a damn good deal. Aside from the service going through a little sales speech to sell you something they have always been helpful on the few occasions I have had a problem.

The other carriers like T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular provide decent service in the city/nearby suburbs but anything beyond that is horrible with Sprint being the better of the three.

I think the problem with AT&T is they have a few areas in the nation that are in need of improvement and the people in those are the biggest complainers. I am not trying to dismiss their complaints and I am sure they are valid but rarely do you see people that get good service come in and just say that. Complaints are always more prevalent.
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@bobiroc,
LazLong 21st Mar 2011
Not to argue but it seems to me PrimeCo (which was CDMA) along with Bell Atlantic, MCI & others merged to become Verizon.... Cingular was originally was BellSouth Mobility.....

I've had practically every service at one time or another.
Never had an issue with AT&T service or coverage, just its overpriced, however I think, it is an incredibly devastating for the customer/consumer & competition.
(while this deal is of great benefit to the companies and their investors)

Too much control.

I find it interesting that it has only been @25 years since we divested AT&T and the Bells only to find them coming back to control everything again..........

Instead of just one monopolist we have a cartel?
@bobiroc

Cingular was originally a 60/40 venture between SBC and Bell South. Then, SBC consumed Bell South. Then, they gobbled up AT&T wireless.
@bobiroc, I too am from the period from Before ATT. When I started with cells I was with Mc Caw cellular in Seattle.... Then they were bought out by ATT Wireless, which was bought out by Cingular,,,, then bought out by ATT.... My service is good for how I travel all around the country and overseas.... Pricey.... and some dropped call ... Had Verizon for about 6 months..... idiots.... went to Tmobile.... not enough coverage ....went sprint ....idiots as well.... ended up back at ATT... idiots also but just the least of the idiots..Otherwise about as good as the rest.... I'm just old enough to remember when the old ATT had good service..... but most never experienced the "old" days.
It works ...most ofr the time but I am not interested in being connected 24/7 and actually like when in the middle of Montana or Wyoming I loose connection with the world for a few hours.
@Scubajrr
Count me in into that. I also have Sprint as standbye, but my entire family with 5 lines is on AT&T with 3 iPhones and 2 Windows Phones and we never experienced issues. I am also a traveling consultant and do communications of both the ends (voice and data) over the phone.
@Scubajrr

I'm also in that boat. I had Verizon through my employer and hated it. The coverage in my area of CT is very spotty with the normal signal at 3 or 4 bars. Traveling throughout New England from ME down to NY the signal was better. Voice quality was mediocre under all but the best conditions. The data plan on the Blackberry was usually pretty good; no real complaints there. My personal T-Mobile phone did well as did all of the people I knew using AT&T. Maybe it's a regional thing, I don't know.
@Scubajrr I'll agree with you. I've been with At&T since they were Cingular too back in 2001 and I have never had a problem. I am looking forward to the merger, despite me already having great coverage in North NJ, better coverage wouldn't hurt at all.
I REALL THINK THIS ISN'T A GOOD IDEA. IT'S GOOD FOR T-MOBILE BUT BAD FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS. WE ALREADY KNOW THAT THE RATES ARE GOING TO GO UP. AND DURING THIS RECESSION, THAT'S NOT ENTICING. BUT THEY'LL DEFINITELY SEE HOW BAD THEIR DECISION WAS AS SOON AS THEIR CUSTOMERS START DROPPING OFF AND TURNING TO ANOTHER PHONE COMPANY.
@nlewis88 This is soo true. But what I have not seen any talk about, is the Fact the all the T-Mobile Workers will be Required to Join the ATT workers Union! And Whatever happened to Monopolies being a BAD thing???
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@george@... That's not quite accurate. If the T-Mobile workers are in a right to work state they do not have to join a union. Besides what is so bad about being part of a union?
OMG We left AT&T years ago... dropped calls, no service, could not depend on AT&T locally and when we traveled, just overall BAD. We JUST renewed, upgraded our phones and our plan. Didn't even consider changing carriers because we have been so satisfied with T-mobile. If we had known this 3 weeks ago we would have went with a different carrier. Now we're stuck for the next 2 years.
@bnt99 Its only been 3 weeks, don't you have a month to get out of your contract and leave? I went with AT&T a couple years ago for 2 weeks and left, didn't have to pay any penalty...unless they changed that now.
@bnt99 The switchover won't happen for 1 year at the very earliest, and they've already said existing contracts will be honored. So your TMobile will be the same until your contract actually is up for renewal at which time I'm gonna assume you'd have to choose from 1 of AT&T's pricier plans. But for now, you'll see no difference at all.
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History Lesson
Driftwood.Dave 21st Mar 2011
Quick history lesson folks...

Cingular bought AT&T wireless and then changed their name to AT&T.
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No
Tim Patterson 21st Mar 2011
@Driftwood.Dave

SBC communications bought AT&T and changed their name to at&t.
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No, the history is different
Rama.NET 21st Mar 2011
@Driftwood.Dave
Cingular bought ATT Wireless from AT&T.
Cingular is joint venture of SBC and Bell South
SBC bought AT&T and changed its name to AT&T.
New AT&T bought Bell South.
Since AT&T bought Bell South, Cingular is automatically part of AT&T.
@Rama.NET
I tried to diagram that buyout timeline and ended up with a Mobius strip.
@Rama.NET This confusing conversation IN ITSELF shows why merger-mania is so bad for everyone but Mr. Big Butt in the boardroom.
@Bruizer
That was great. Thanks for that. Craziness.
I am more amused in the irony of T Mobiles anti AT&T TV ads and the subsequent event.
@bsgarley
This would be funny if they still run those ads though
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Not likin' it
rag@... 21st Mar 2011
As a TMO customer, I can't think of anything I like about this. TMO has great prices, and service hasn't been a problem.

No way I'd do Verizon. They are way too predatory. And Sprint's plans are just too weird.
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Your coverage could improve greatly.
Bruizer 21st Mar 2011
@rag@...

TMob has next to no coverage if you ever leave the city limits. I see this as being a potentially good thing. TMo could live on AT&T Edge network and provide basic phone coverage increasing their land area coverage by 1000+% or so.
@Bruizer
At what cost though? I assume that the T-Mobile customers now have to adhere to the AT&T rules and regs. They get better service, probably, but will pay a lot more for it as opposed to the natural, if slow, progression of T-Mobile independent service.
@Bruizer I drive from Seattle to Lubbock, TX once a year. I lose my signal for about 45 minutes during the entire trip and that's in an isolated section of West Texas. That's 45 minutes on a 2 and a half day trip through Northern cali, Arinzona, New Mexico, and Texas. How is that next to no coverage?
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how AT&T got so big with so many customers so unhappy with their service. Is this all due to the iPhone? Even an iPhone couldn't tempt me to put up with such expensive and bad service.

I have a friend who would rather jailbreak his iPhone and sign on with T-Mobile. Personally, I would just as soon go with Android and ditch AT&T. If AT&T is the bigger carrier, then we consumers have only ourselves to blame for making them get that way.

I left them in the 1990's because of poor service and went with the smaller Omnipoint, which is now T-Mobile.

I never regretted that decision, until this merger was announced. It is a bad thing all around because it leaves AT&T practically the only gsm provider in the country, after swallowing both Cingular and T-Mobile. That means monopoly, and all the bad consequences that usually go along with it.

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