Sprint formally asks FCC to block AT&T’s T-Mobile acquisition

How about infrastructure costs as well as consumable costs? Ever wonder why Walmart can sell the same items for a significant percentage cheaper than mom and pop stores? Scale. If the new At&t can promise 3 times the units moved than Sprint, and Verizon can promise in the neighborhood of att’s numbers, who do you think gets bigger discounts on the galaxysII? Also if sprint wants an exclusive, how much more are they going to have to pay per handset? Sprint, meanwhile cannot increase the prices of their handset above what the baby bells charge. This means in order to compete either sprint makes less in the long run or they’re forced to raise prices. That’s one example. Infrastructure costs work the same. The bigger you are, the more you purchase, and the larger the volume discount.

Does anyone really think that any cost savings by att will translate into lower rates? Once Sprint is forced to raise prices, nothing stops Verizon and att from doing the same. That’s why it’s bad for consumers.

Alternatively, they recognize that with Verizon and AT&T-Mo being around, Sprint is going to be a distant, distant third and won’t have a meaningful chance to buy new spectrum in the future. It could also be harder (albeit not impossible) for them to get special deals on phones.

There’s also the possibility — I’ll admit it’s unlikely, but it is possible — that Hesse realizes what most of the rest of us do: any time there is less competition in a space, the customer usually gets it with no lube. He might actually be sticking up for the customer just because it’s the right thing to do. I doubt it, but it is possible.

Also, even if it goes through, he could get a nice PR boost out of being the company that stood up for the little guy.

I don’t see why you think that prices are going to go down with less competition in the market, though. T-Mobile and Sprint are the big dogs when it comes to national coverage and low prices. T-Mobile users might get grandfathered rates, but I would probably fall over dead if AT&T lowered their rates to match what T-Mobile is currently doing.

@PC487:disqus , @Sqube:disqus , thanks for your perspectives. You definitely raise some good points that I hadn’t thought of. It doesn’t seem like anyone has been discussing the ‘why’ of Sprint’s objection to the merger. I have yet to see an editorial that even gives one possible reason as to why. So, again, thanks for contributing to the conversation. 

@PC487:disqus, Your point that AT&T/Verizon will get better handset prices due to scale is kinda what I was hinting at with my point (A), but you elaborated more on the how, and you also point out the fact that prices may stay the same while the carriers increase profits. That could be a very likely possibility due to the strong market power of AT&T/Verizon at that point. I guess I assumed that since Sprint would still be in the market, and since they seem to have lower prices than AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile as it is, that their prices would continue to be lower and continue to exert downward pressure on AT&T/Verizon prices. That would probably be a really complicated analysis to consider all the possibilities on that. I wonder, is there any data available on handset prices to the carriers? I’ll research it when I have more time.

@Sqube:disqus, My point wasn’t that prices would go down necessarily, just that prices could either go up, or go down, and what exactly Sprint might be thinking about those possibilities. Your point that they might run out of spectrum to acquire somewhat fits with my analysis of Sprint’s wish to acquire T-Mobile, therefore giving them more spectrum.

Another possibility which I’ve just realized is that there could be some personal animosity on the part of Hesse regarding the fact that Sprint did not, in fact, get to acquire T-Mobile, as was rumored to be the case before the AT&T acquisition was announced.

Sprint seems to be committed to being an innovative carrier, and no matter which way this pans out, I think they will be successful. They currently have great exclusives (I’m quite jealous of the Evo 3D coming out), so I’m not really sure how much that will change with or without the merger going through. I’ve considered switching to Sprint several times, although all this legal battling over the merger makes me wary. I’m not a big fan of litigious companies. Perhaps as more details come to light, it will make more sense…. I’m just trying to puzzle the pieces together from what I can see.

IN NYC, duh! Which might explain his hatred of AT&T….
// In case somebody misses it, his name is PAPINYC, so I don’t look like an idiot.

I must say ‘Johnny’, don’t think anyone would ever mistake you for an idiot; you seem so intelligent *pause & sigh*?

@PAPINYC:disqus , have I done anything to suggest that I am? I was merely replying to @WaltSobchak:disqus ’s somewhat strange question ‘Where have you been duder?’ with the obvious observation that, based on your user name, you live in New York. Your original comment suggested that you don’t like AT&T, which from all accounts that I’ve seen has horrible service in NYC. If a carrier had horrible service where I lived, I wouldn’t be too fond of them, either.

Walt, I’ve been around. I haven’t seen you posting. Although, I was using a TBolt for a few weeks and probably posting less. Then, came Memorial Day.

Besides, had to take some time off because of all Zach’s crApple stories.

Technically, you’ll only have 3 evils to pick from instead of 4 from now on.  “T-Mobile needs to…” means nothing when Douche-Telekom, their parent company, wants to get rid of their interest in the US market.  It wouldn’t be wise for Sprint to purchase T-Mobile even if it was just for the spectrum licenses…even then you would still have 3 evils to choose from.  Nextel and WiMax were bad decisions on Sprint’s part, and even they are considering a move to LTE.  AT&T may be the big bad wolf, but they are the best fit for a T-Mobile buyer.  The only good thing from this merger will be a singular GSM model Nexus phone to rule them all.

Its not that they aren’t working on 4g, its that TMos current 4g is nothing more than a boosted 3g. Sure 4g sounds good on their commercials, but their best 4g speeds are slower than anyone else’s slowest 4g speeds.

No, T-Mobile has already priced out severance packages for their employees. Which is a slap in the face. 

It’s a huge slap in the face

Really cause they’re offering severance packages to reps already….

what gave it away