It looks like maybe the T-Mobile spokeswoman, who taunted the men in suits about the benefits of 4G, may have spoken too soon...
| T-Mobile in pink, taunting the iPhone who is forced to carry AT&T on its back. |
As anyone working in the Tech industry knows, things are changing all the time. What was hot today could end up being yesterday's news tomorrow. Yeah, I'm looking at you MySpace. Even the mightiest of internet companies like AOL have fallen and changed into companies that are barely recognizable today. It's just the way it goes when you are dealing with the ever changing world of Technology.
For months now, we have been seeing that annoyingly chipper T-Mobile spokeswoman taunting the men from the other three carriers about how much better 4G is than the stuffy old 3G networks. Although many people have insisted that there is really no such thing as 4G, it seems that T-Mobile must have been on to something. Earlier this week, AT&T announced that they are buying T-Mobile.
The deal is upsetting to Sprint, currently the 4th largest cellular provider. Currently, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint make up the “Big 4” of cell providers. All that will change once this acquisition goes through. With AT&T grabbing up T-Mobile, they will have a 40 percent market share with Verizon coming in a close second with a 30 percent market share. That will leave Sprint holding somewhere around 16 percent of cell contracts. Suddenly, the “Big 4” will become the “Big 2”.
The CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp. Dan Hesse said:
"I do have concerns that it would stifle innovation and too much power would be in the hands of two,"
Surprisingly, the head of Verizon Wireless, Dan Mead, said was that they are “Very interested in what is going on.”
Many people had speculated that T-Mobile, the nations 4th largest cell company would be bought out by Sprint Nextel. The thought was that if the two combined forces, they could give both AT&T and Verizon a run for their money. Evidentally AT&T was able to bring a little more to the table. The purchase is reportedly going to cost AT&T $39 billion.
Of course, there is no telling if the FCC will approve this deal and if so, how much of their assets AT&T will have to sell off as part of the conditions of approval. In the meantime, it's interesting to note that both of the “Big 2” that will remain have the iPhone.
What do you think about this acquisition? Do you think the FCC will approve the deal? Let me know in the comments.
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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for TechCareersBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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