The news that AT&T plans to buy T-Mobile USA in a deal valued at $39 billion has business reporters writing analyses such as this at MarketWatch.com:
"Assuming the deal goes through, it brings mixed news for consumers, who should benefit from improved quality and coverage in high-speed mobile broadband service, according to Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.
" 'The bad news: the cost of that service won't come down nearly as fast as customers would like, since AT&T and Verizon Wireless combined would own nearly three out of every four wireless subscriptions in the U.S.,' Golvin wrote in an e-mail."
The Wall Street Journal adds that "in stitching together the second- and fourth-largest U.S. mobile carriers, AT&T is showing a fearless attitude toward U.S. regulators, who will be heavily scrutinizing what is the largest planned merger deal of 2011. T-Mobile has long been an antagonist to AT&T and chief rival Verizon Wireless, offering low prices that kept pressure on rates."
After the deal, an AT&T/T-Mobile combination would be larger than Verizon Wireless.
Then there's this ripple effect:
"Wall Street stock indexes were poised to rise more than 1 percent at the open on Monday as investors welcomed AT&T's proposal to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom." ( Reuters)
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAxNDQ2NDAxMDEyNzU2NzM2ODA3ZGI1ZA001))
