AT&T Buys T-Mobile USA To Become Largest US Mobile Operator

(Mar 21 2011) 3G , 4G , Mobile Broadband , Mobile Internet

1. I think we expected a few big announcements at CTIA, but not one this big. AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. This is big news because it:

   • Catapults AT&T the biggest US carrier. T-Mobile adds 46 million customers to AT&T’s already massive 96 million subscriber base. The resulting 142 million subscriber base puts makes AT&T far ahead of Verizon’s 94 million subscribers.
   • Gives AT&T a near-monopoly for GSM customers and handsets. T-Mobile was the alternative carrier for customers who wanted to use GSM technology, but didn’t want to subscribe to AT&T. Now there is no national carrier other than AT&T that runs a GSM network. This will have big ramifications for visitors from other countries with GSM handsets who want to use their phones in the US.
   • Adds even more infrastructure and coverage to AT&T’s network. Not only will AT&T gain customers, but more importantly, it gains many cellular sites and base stations. T-Mobile’s commitment to HSPA+ combined with AT&T’s efforts already underway not only make AT&T the largest mobile carrier, but the largest 4G carrier as well.

   We’ll undoubtedly get more information about this development at CTIA (I’m on my way to the airport in the next 30 minutes, in fact). But AT&T and T-Mobile just reshaped the US wireless market in a very big way.

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