US-based AT&T has snapped up T-Mobile USA in a $39bn agreement, making it the largest carrier in the country. The acquisition from German company Deutsche Telecom also means that AT&T now has a massive 43% of all mobile coverage in the United States.
It is however being presumed that high priced AT&T will have superior network coverage and bring quality but will also begin raising the prices of cheaper and more cost-effective T-Mobile services (services which will now be more limited) to balance with that of its own rates.
The merger also begs the question of whether certain mobile phones provided through T-Mobile will still be relevant to the new joint network, or if indeed many handsets will need to be replaced. No doubt with additional cost to the mobile user.
The T-Mobile name will eventually be dropped in the US and its services integrated into the AT&T existing network when the full merge takes effect in 2012. Similar action happened over here when the T-Mobile “sell-off” began with Orange acquiring the network in the UK in the later part of 2009.
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