As you probably know, AT&T and T-Mobile USA announced plans for the former to acquire the latter from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock. While the deal, expected to close in a year, has to go over some regulatory hurdles from the FCC and the DoJ, there have been concerns that the deal will narrow choices for consumers.
Part of these fears have also included speculation that Verizon would try to acquire Sprint to stay competitive with AT&T. Verizon is trying to quiet down such talk, however. CEO Daniel Mead told Reuters, “We’re not interested in Sprint. We don’t need them.”
Well, time will tell whether that remains the case, and opinions have a funny way of changing in the telecommunications industry. See recent T-Mobile ads blasting AT&T’s network:
That is the nature of competition.
T-Mobile announced itself today that its doubling the speed of its 4G network to achieve a theoretical download speed of 42 Mbps starting in Las Vegas, New York and Orlando to be followed closely by Chicago and further expansion of the New York network into Long Island and Northern New Jersey. By mid-year, T-Mobile says it expects 140 million Americans in 25 markets to have access to increased 4G speeds.
“As T-Mobile continues the aggressive expansion of America’s Largest 4G Network, we’re doubling our maximum speed in more than two dozen markets, starting with three important cities today,” said T-Mobile USA CTO Neville Ray. “We will continue to build on our 4G network advantage this year, providing customers with an industry-leading mobile data experience.”
T-Mobile also says it intends to offer more 4G products this Spring. These include: the T-Mobile G2x, T-Mobile G-Slate, T-Mobile Sidekick 4G, Rocket 3.0, T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot, and prepaid Rocket 4G.
Mead said this morning that Verizon never looked at buying T-Mobile and that Verizon will not be distracted by the AT&T T-Mobile merger.
Sprint CEO Dan Heese is quoted as saying, “I do have concerns that it would stifle innovation and too much power would be in the hands of just two.”