8 ms·

>Not sure what you mean here. What I mean is T-Mobile + Sprint is still third by customer count. And not really a close third. If competition is a problem, th

by danjoc 9y ago

>Not sure what you mean here. What I mean is T-Mobile + Sprint is still third by customer count. And not really a close third. If competition is a problem, then ideally, the government would either allow a real third competitor, or in absence of that, break up the bigger two. They blocked the former and did not pursue the latter. >I don't see how a Sprint merger is necessary or useful to the competitive landscape at this time. Spectrum. Combined, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

deleted 9y ago
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takeda 9y ago
> What I mean is T-Mobile + Sprint is still third by customer count. And not really a close third. I don't know where you live, but in LA County I have as good (if not better) reception than Verizon. I switched to T-Mobile (I think in 2013 or 2012) from Verizon and never looked back, in additional to good coverage the bill is always the same amount (it doesn't suspiciously grow month over month), they don't seem to make "mistakes" with my bill that cost me more, don't charge me if I go over quota (just slow down the access) and comes with free perks such as free texting and data even when traveling internationally. The T-Mobile is actually considered a shitty (as treating consumers badly) service in Europe so I'm very glad that at least for now we do have competition and if T-Mobile will become too big, at least there might be a chance for Sprint to grow as well. In my opinion Sprint right now is where T-Mobile was 5 years ago.
- danjoc 9y ago
  >In my opinion Sprint right now is where T-Mobile was 5 years ago. I send >30K SMS per day to the continental US and a large percentage of those receive replies. With the replies, I get carrier info. For the entire US last week, 'Verizon','0.48' 'AT&T','0.31' 'T-Mobile','0.10' 'Sprint','0.09' 'Other','0.02' For the entire US one week starting 5 years ago 'Verizon','0.46' 'AT&T','0.33' 'Sprint','0.08' 'Other','0.07' 'T-Mobile','0.06' T-Mobile hasn't hurt Sprint. Sprint is basically in the same spot it was 5 years ago. AT&T and Verizon are also largely unchanged. The only action is in T-Mo eating up subscribers from the small carriers like cricket and metropcs. T-Mo has eliminated all the smaller competition. The US gov did not create/preserve competition by blocking a Sprint+T-Mobile merger. Neither Sprint nor T-Mo alone are mounting a serious challenge to the big two.
kelnos 9y ago
> Combined, they would be a force to be reckoned with. I'm just not seeing how T-Mobile isn't already a force to be reckoned with, even without Sprint in the picture. They're certainly smaller by subscriber count than AT&T and Verizon, and have less spectrum to work with, but it doesn't seem like they're actually hurting for spectrum or that their lack of more spectrum is hurting their growth. I would certainly like my phone (on T-Mo here) to work in some random out of the way places where my AT&T- and Verizon-using friends have service and I don't (though the instances of that drop in number constantly), but T-Mo's subscribers are still way more loyal than any other carrier's, and they keep on growing.

by danjoc 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

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takeda 9y ago

> What I mean is T-Mobile + Sprint is still third by customer count. And not really a close third. I don't know where you live, but in LA County I have as good (if not better) reception than Verizon. I switched to T-Mobile (I think in 2013 or 2012) from Verizon and never looked back, in additional to good coverage the bill is always the same amount (it doesn't suspiciously grow month over month), they don't seem to make "mistakes" with my bill that cost me more, don't charge me if I go over quota (just slow down the access) and comes with free perks such as free texting and data even when traveling internationally. The T-Mobile is actually considered a shitty (as treating consumers badly) service in Europe so I'm very glad that at least for now we do have competition and if T-Mobile will become too big, at least there might be a chance for Sprint to grow as well. In my opinion Sprint right now is where T-Mobile was 5 years ago.

danjoc 9y ago
>In my opinion Sprint right now is where T-Mobile was 5 years ago. I send >30K SMS per day to the continental US and a large percentage of those receive replies. With the replies, I get carrier info. For the entire US last week, 'Verizon','0.48' 'AT&T','0.31' 'T-Mobile','0.10' 'Sprint','0.09' 'Other','0.02' For the entire US one week starting 5 years ago 'Verizon','0.46' 'AT&T','0.33' 'Sprint','0.08' 'Other','0.07' 'T-Mobile','0.06' T-Mobile hasn't hurt Sprint. Sprint is basically in the same spot it was 5 years ago. AT&T and Verizon are also largely unchanged. The only action is in T-Mo eating up subscribers from the small carriers like cricket and metropcs. T-Mo has eliminated all the smaller competition. The US gov did not create/preserve competition by blocking a Sprint+T-Mobile merger. Neither Sprint nor T-Mo alone are mounting a serious challenge to the big two.

kelnos 9y ago

> Combined, they would be a force to be reckoned with. I'm just not seeing how T-Mobile isn't already a force to be reckoned with, even without Sprint in the picture. They're certainly smaller by subscriber count than AT&T and Verizon, and have less spectrum to work with, but it doesn't seem like they're actually hurting for spectrum or that their lack of more spectrum is hurting their growth. I would certainly like my phone (on T-Mo here) to work in some random out of the way places where my AT&T- and Verizon-using friends have service and I don't (though the instances of that drop in number constantly), but T-Mo's subscribers are still way more loyal than any other carrier's, and they keep on growing.