Outgoing FCC chairman warns of AT&T/Verizon dominance

[HeyCori]

Outgoing FCC chair: Wireless dominance by AT&T and Verizon a “very bad thing” | Ars Technica

 

[HeyCori]

re: Outgoing FCC chairman warns of AT&T/Verizon dominance

While on the subject, here's the new FCC chairman.

Sources: Obama will name former telecom lobbyist Tom Wheeler as FCC head | The Verge

He also has/had a blog if you want to know more about how he thinks.

Core Capital Partners - News - Tom Wheeler Articles

 

[anon(5335877)]

re: Outgoing FCC chairman warns of AT&T/Verizon dominance

Warns of AT&T and Verizon dominance? Aren't they dominating already?

T-Mobile really needs some of that 600 Mhz spectrum for auction in I think 2014. Right now, they have none. Or actually, they own a little 700 and a little 850, but in tiny areas so it's not of any use to them. They need some nationwide low frequency spectrum so they can expand their network to rural areas.

A lot of people complain about T-Mobile and their lack of rural coverage, but what they don't know is that it's difficult and costly to expand your network when you down have any useful sub-1Ghz spectrum. Because low frequencies travel further, you can cover large areas with fewer cell sites. T-Mobile only has some 1900 and 1700/2100, so they'd need a lot more cell sites than Verizon or AT&T to cover rural areas.

Sprint could use some too, I think they only have 14 Mhz of 800 that they got from Nextel.

 

[CJ Thunder]

re: Outgoing FCC chairman warns of AT&T/Verizon dominance

Our country is big. How many cell carriers are in all of Europe and the UK? Three is a good number for everything. Consoles, hits in a boss battle, I think Sprint and Tmobile need to merge.

 

[anon(5335877)]

Our country is big. How many cell carriers are in all of Europe and the UK? Three is a good number for everything. Consoles, hits in a boss battle, I think Sprint and Tmobile need to merge.

UK has four off the top of my head. O2, Vodafone, Three, and EE (a merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK).

Germany has four, Telekom (Deutsche Telekom, owner of T-Mobile), Vodafone, E-Plus, and O2.

Interesting how a few major companies seem to be everywhere.

O2 - Telefonica (Spanish)
Vodafone - British
Orange - French
T-Mobile - German

Anyway, I don't think the FCC would approve. I remember reading an article or something saying the FCC doesn't to lose a major national carrier. So something like T-Mobile + MetroPCS is okay, but a Sprint + T-Mobile or AT&T + T-Mobile is not.

Plus, it doesn't seem like the right time. T-Mobile is in the middle of merging with MetroPCS (already been approved actually) while Sprint is trying to buyout Clearwire but at the same time has received acquisition offers from both Softbank and Dish. I'm not sure what a Sprint/T-Mobile merger would accomplish. They aren't both great rural carriers, so it's not like coverage would improve. Plus, even though both are transitioning to LTE, Sprint still runs a CDMA network, while T-Mobile has a GSM network. I don't think they need to merge. Instead, I think they need more investment so they can expand their network. That, in addition to some more spectrum, especially low frequency spectrum.

 

[scottcraft]

I enjoy the service I have with Verizon, but I hope T-Mobile and Sprint are able to push Verizon and AT&T to offer cheaper plans.

 

[fatclue_98]

Well, the T-Mobile marriage with MetroPOS is official as of today and it looks like Dish is going to win the Sprint stakes against Japanese telecom Softbank. I don't see a problem for consumers especially with the pre-paids that are eating the carriers' lunches.

 

[HeyCori]

Well at least AT&T and Comcast are happy

Uh-oh: AT&T and Comcast are ecstatic about the FCC new chairman | Ars Technica