Sprint Chairman Says He Wants to Buy T-Mobile - WSJ.com
Here we go again. That would go from 4 major players to 3! There are many M&A plans out there that end up with one outcome: You Lose!
IMO, there are so few phone companies that more consolidation just lands up back in the territory of where we started. One Big AT&T that either requires heavy regulation like a utility company of a Monopoly. Oligopolies with 2 or 3 dominant players is essentially a monopoly with the strategy of (Wink and nod) follow the leader on prices and don't rock the boat.
It actually is good to have a couple of smaller wannabes that seek growth organically (their own marketing plans) instead of industry consolidation. It keeps prices competitive and increases innovation as they seek ways to grow through competition.
Look at this list of companies and their subscribers. 4 very large companies and some small marginal nobodies.
List of mobile network operators of the Americas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cricket and all those services just piggyback and resell from the "Big Companies".. They are just resellers. Plus AT&T is buying Cricket!!!! As a competitive move to acquire one of Sprint's independent distributors!
Cricket Wireless - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I hope the Feds stop these acquisitions and mergers!
I also hope congress does not sell out and stick it to consumers (their voters). My guess is that any hearings in the house will just be a sham to fool voters and to have a cover story for selling out when they campaign. The real reason will be campaign contributions and untraceable perks and perhaps a job or seat on the board when they retire from congress.
BTW, Phone services is a massive part of consumers' monthly bills. It is not uncommon to see a small family with near a $200/mo phone bill. A couple can easily have a $100/mo phone bill if they use data services.
Internet and mobile communications is rapidly becoming intertwined into every aspect of our lives. It will cease being a convenience soon and become a necessity that requires a large cost to participate in consumer activity like purchases and transactions and other seemingly unrelated activities.