Time To STOP Cell Phone Mergers! (bankrupt, union, free market, credit)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,793,990 times
Reputation: 3587
Advertisements
Disclaimer: I work in this business however my opinion is based on my experience as a consumer
Now Alltell is about the swallowed up by Verizon. ATT Wireless was swallowed up by Cingular which was then taken over by ATT. Sprint took over Nextel and now is talking about trying to take over TMobile. What have all these mergers got us, the consumers? Lower rates? Hardly. We pay about twice what people in most of Europe and the rest of the world pay for cell service. Innovation? Not really- unless the I phone (which is nice) excites you. Better customer service? Don't make me laugh!
If something is not done, soon this country will have only 2 cell phone companies both owned by wireline phone companies and we will all be back in the days of Cellular One and Ameritech where you paid 75 cents a minute with NO free minutes!
The fact is that, yes, some of the companies are hurting for business- like Sprint- but that should make them want to innovate, try different business models and improve customer service and not to sell themselves to another phone company. Apparently Alltel's customer base is pretty happy with their little phone company. They are rated high in customer opinion.
If anything we need MORE competition. The top 100 metros should all have at least 8 different cell phone companies competing for business. That is what keeps prices in check and encourages business and technical innvoation. It is time that the Dept of Justice and the FCC did their jobs and said enough already!
Alltel customers worry about Verizon deal: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance (broken link)
Normal business practices really. In many markets you can;t stay small for long and keep investors or get money you need at a good price.Plent of compation really still.There can still be more satrtups at anytime.It is often worse to interfer with business than not to;called the free market.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,793,990 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by texdav
Normal business practices really. In many markets you can;t stay small for long and keep investors or get money you need at a good price.Plent of compation really still.There can still be more satrtups at anytime.It is often worse to interfer with business than not to;called the free market.
The problem with that is that there cannot be more startups because the radio bandwidth needed is not available for them. I would not object if the government forced the big players to give up some of the spectrum they hold (some of it unused to keep it out of the hands of potential competitors) and award it to new companies or existing companies that want to move into new markets. When company A buys company B they get more radio spectrum and less competition.
The government finally stepped into the market and put a stop to "exclusive" tower agreements when the big boys would get prime tower space and not allow it to be leased out to other providers. This was a good move because it allowed smaller companies like Metro PCS to lease tower space and increase coverage. They need to so the same thing with the radio spectrum.
Aren't you a liberal KevK? You want government bailout of people's bad mistakes and you want businesses to stay competitive with more regulation? You know what is going to happen to AllTell? They are going to go bankrupt with time when competing without the merger because of all the regulations you made... competition = less regulation... you can't have one and expect the other... you want a socialist society but demand the comforts of a capitalist society??? Ain't going to happen...
I am an Alltel customer. I wouldn't have it any other way. I've heard bad things about Verizon and I'm not sure I will stay with them if they get Alltel. Eventually the government has to draw the line and keep competition alive.
I agree with cell phone issue, I left ATT years ago for better service with Cingular.
It's probably way to late but the mergers of the oil companies are in the same category. All the mergers over the last 15 years have left us with a few companies & no competition.
I always pay my bills on time, and most of the time pay some extra, just so I don't have to deal with them the next month. You'd think I was a good customer. I had ATT until Cingular bought them, and they jacked up my rate because I didn't want the 'new and improved' phone. I started having overages that I never had before.... So I went to T-mobile, and I'm pretty sure somebody bought them out. For some reason I started getting overages, and when I called to ask what the deal was, they gave me a hundred free minutes...and then sent me a letter saying they were canceling my service because I didn't have a contract and roamed too much. I tried Alltell, and was really impressed until they couldn't roll my number over to their network. So I went back to T-Mobile, and started to prepay my time. Since then, my average bill has gone from $70 a month to a $100 credit lasting about five months....and I don't get a monthly surprise from their billing department any more
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,793,990 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by evilnewbie
Aren't you a liberal KevK? You want government bailout of people's bad mistakes and you want businesses to stay competitive with more regulation? You know what is going to happen to AllTell? They are going to go bankrupt with time when competing without the merger because of all the regulations you made... competition = less regulation... you can't have one and expect the other... you want a socialist society but demand the comforts of a capitalist society??? Ain't going to happen...
I am a LIBERAL. I do not want a "socialist" society. I want a regulated capitalist society with a decent safety net. And Alltell, as far as I know, is pretty far from being bankrupt. I would have less objection to them merging if they merged with a smaller player like US Cellular as opposed to Verizon just getting bigger than it already is.
The only cell phone company that is in trouble right now is Sprint and that is largely because of their own stupidity and bad customer service. I could take over that company and have it turned in a year. Making money in the cell phone business is easy. You really have to try hard to lose money.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,793,990 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rakin
Oh yeah, add to the list Bank Mergers.
How about Chase Bank + Chemical Bank + Bank One + JP Morgan +++++
Someday we'll have 3 national banks.
At least most of us have the option of Credit Unions. I think however bank mergers have got way out of hand too. It is time for the government to start enforcing the Sherman Act again.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oil Company Mergers are worse
