Android Dose

If you haven’t heard about the AT&T/Tmobile merge, then I advise you to crawl out from that rock under which you are hiding. In a recent announcement, AT&T plans to purchase T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for a whopping $39 billion. Now, before I get into my rant (you’ve been warned), I have to stress that this deal is by no means final. It has to clear the Department of Justice as well as the FCC, and then there’s all the paperwork and proper proceedings that have to take place. Bottom line, it could take up to a year for this merge to happen, that is, if it clears the aforementioned departments. With that being said, i’ve had some time to collect my thoughts after the initial shock of the announcement, and I’ve come to a few conclusions..

First, we have to look at it from all perspectives. From AT&T’s viewpoint, it’s a genius move. As much as I hate AT&T, I have to admit that this is a very smart business move on their part. It takes months, sometimes years to gain approval to build new cell towers, and AT&T didn’t want to wait for it. They found the most simple solution possible: they bought towers. Since AT&T and Tmobile are both GSM carriers, it was a no-brainer for AT&T to purchase Tmo, who we’ve noticed has been struggling financially as of late. All AT&T has to do is reconfigure the Tmobile towers, and they’ve got a lot more coverage and the potential for faster speeds. I hate AT&T with a passion, but I must give them their dues here.

Now, from the most common perspective (and mine, I might add), the current Tmobile customer. I, for one, am trying to stay optimistic. Maybe AT&T will change for the better through this deal. Maybe their services will improve, and they’ll grow in a positive way. Obviously, this is not as likely as AT&T staying the same, and just gaining some more towers, but I’ll let you sort that out for yourself. So, as a Tmo customer, what do you do? Stay with AT&T/Tmobile, or head to another carrier, like Sprint or Verizon? Well, that all depends on you. I know some Android enthusiasts who are already planning the move to another carrier, and I can’t say I blame them. While Tmobile is trying its best to ensure a smooth transaction for customers, I doubt it’ll be as easy as they’re making it out to be. Tmobile phones that use Tmo 3G won’t get 3G after the merge, meaning they’ll have to switch to an AT&T 3G (or 4G) phone. This is not a popular aspect among Tmobile customers, myself included.

And finally, we have to look at it from the CDMA carriers’ points of view. At the moment, Verizon is the largest carrier, with AT&T trailing, and Sprint in 3rd. If this deal goes through, AT&T will vastly increase the size of its network, surpassing Verizon. Vzw and Sprint have to be worried about their market shares, and how the merge will force them to step up their game to stay in it. Of course, the HTC Thunderbolt is certainly luring in many Android users from Tmobile to Verizon lately, so don’t count the CDMA carriers out just yet.

Now, what do I think about the merge? I hate it, plain and simple. I’ve been a Tmo user for nearly 4 years now, and I’ve never had a single complaint. Why? Because Tmobile offers the best customer service, bar none. That’s why I’ve stuck with them all these years. You won’t find quality customer service like that anywhere else. And now, Tmobile is being bought out by the company that’s notorious for terrible customer service. That’s not something that will brighten my day.  But like I said, I’m being optimistic. There’s a chance that AT&T will learn from it’s restrictive mistakes and be more carefree with Android. And with the addition of all those Tmobile towers, AT&T’s network can only get stronger from here. What are my plans as a Tmobile customer? For now, I’m staying where I am. If things take a turn for the worse, my contract runs out in November, at which point I’ll move to Sprint.

So, all in all, a smart move for AT&T, sucks for Tmo customers, and worries CDMA carriers. Any questions?