So T-Mobile, recently left at the alter by AT&T, is now looking for $9B to build out a LTE network that can compete with AT&T.

T-Mobile has a great start towards its goal when you consider that AT&T gave it $4B as a parting . . . → Read More: Buddy, can you spare $9B?]]>

Please feed the T-Mobile Kitty. (Photo illustration by Jonathan Kramer)

So T-Mobile, recently left at the alter by AT&T, is now looking for $9B to build out a LTE network that can compete with AT&T.

T-Mobile has a great start towards its goal when you consider that AT&T gave it $4B as a parting gift.  If you have some loose change or small bills, please drop it in Carly’s cup.  Heck, all she needs is another $5B.  Easy!

$9B’s a lot of investment money simply to split the market even more than it is, today.  It’s also interesting that T-Mobile seems determined to join the rest of the world by going to 4G via LTE rather than via its current industry-isolating path of HPSA+ (also known as “it’s 4G if we say it’s 4G”).

I continue to believe that T-Mobile will either join forces with Sprint (can you say “SprinT-Mobile”?) or T-Mobile will acquire one or several smaller regional carriers.  How about “Hello…Hello…Hello” for example.  A dark horse: Maybe Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s German parent will sell off its entire worldwide wireless network to some small country…or maybe to Microsoft.

Only time…and money…will tell.

Look for T-Mobile to either buy some second tier carriers, to perhaps do a deal with Sprint (see that posting here).

Yesterday, October 11th, David Sterman (writing at SeekingAlpha.com) strongly suggested in a well-reasoned piece that Clearwire could go bankrupt by next year.

Mr. Sterman’s arguments about a possible (if . . . → Read More: Is Clearwire Heading to Bankruptcy?]]> Five days ago I wrote about Sprint effectively casting off Clearwire to sink or swim on its own.  Perhaps I could have said, “sink or sink.”

Yesterday, October 11th, David Sterman (writing at SeekingAlpha.com) strongly suggested in a well-reasoned piece that Clearwire could go bankrupt by next year.

Mr. Sterman’s arguments about a possible (if not likely) Clearwire bankruptcy ring true in my ears.  He said in part,

In 2011, things got messier. Clearwire had always counted on generous financial support from its largest customer, Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S). (Sprint has made serial capital injections in Clearwire and now owns 48%, controlling 54% of the voting stock.) But Sprint has begun to express regret about pinning its 4G hopes on Clearwire’s network. Once Sprint started to make its own 4G network — using the stronger LTE technology — it was almost a matter of time before it announced a public divorce. In a meeting with analysts on Friday, Oct. 7, Sprint said it would soon stop selling phones that work in conjunction with Clearwire’s 4G network. This caused Clearwire’s stock to fall 30% that same day. And the selling may just be beginning…

Mr. Sterman’s focus on the numbers tells the test of the (sad) story:

Where does this leave Clearwire? The company had 7.7 million customers at the end of the second quarter, of which 80% came through Sprint’s enterprise-level relationships. Clearwire has also been pursuing retail customers through its direct sales efforts (at a cost of about $300 per subscriber in marketing expenses). This summer, management spoke of a full-year target of 10 million customers. But now, after Sprint’s  announcement, it’s not clear how Clearwire intends to draw the additional 2.3 million customers. In addition, the retail wireless business is fiercely competitive, which is why other Clearwire partners such as T-Mobile are also looking for an exit strategy.

Well, at least Clearwire’s frequencies will have some value in a buy-out before BK, or to an auction winner in BK.

Go read Mr. Sterman’s post.  Make up your own mind.

(Thanks for John Pestle, Esq. of the Varnum Law Firm  for pointing me to Mr. Sterman’s article.)

1. The Department of Justice is successful in its suit to block the proposed AT&T&T merger or AT&T gives up, pays T-Mobile the $6B cancellation fee; and then

(….hear in your mind’s ear the ethereal sounds of harps and chimes….)

2. King Deutsche Telekom–disappointed at the . . . → Read More: SprinT-Mobile?]]> I have to wonder whether the following might happen:

1. The Department of Justice  is successful in its suit to block the proposed AT&T&T merger or AT&T gives up, pays T-Mobile the $6B cancellation fee; and then

(….hear in your mind’s ear the ethereal sounds of harps and chimes….)

2. King Deutsche Telekom–disappointed at the loss of suitor King AT&T–continues to peddle Princess T-Mobile as a bride for some other lessor noble suitor; and then

3. Prince Sprint steps up says to Princess T-Mobile, ‘Oh, please marry me, Highness!’;  but at about the same  time then

4. Prince Sprint suddenly remembers that he’s already married to an ugly wife, named Countess Nextel; and then

5. Prince Sprint calls the Royal divorce lawyers to rid itself of Countess Nextel (really, to profitably free himself of the Countess’s land sites and frequencies) to uses the divorce settlement to help finance the ‘reverse dowry’ it offered to King Deutsche Telekom); and then

6. Prince Sprint and Countess Nextel go their separate ways (likely some lesser suitor will step up to protect Nextel’s honor and propose marriage); and then

7. Prince Sprint and Princess T-Mobile wed uniting their lesser kingdoms into one land, and then

8. Many of Princess T-Mobile’s hand maidens (they’re called employees in T-Mobiledom) find themselves put out of the castle, while the lucky few other retainers are invited to pledge their allegiance the court contractors of Prince Sprint, but

9. The serfs (oddly called ‘subscribers’ for some strange reason) in the newly combined Kingdom of SpriT-Mobile see no difference in their lives.  They continue to pay their monthly tribute to the Prince and Princess to be allowed access to the expanded lands of Kingdom and the privilege of communicating with other serfs of SprinT-Mobile, and serfs in the other aligned Kingdoms.

The new Royal couple might even have their own Royal Coat of Arms:

…and be known by the Hollywood name of “Sprin-Tee”!

One has to wonder when such a story might come true!  For the meantime, this is just a fanciful parody.  Yup…just a parody.

Case No. 1:11-cv-01560, assigned to Hon. Ellen S. Huvelle

25 pages.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THE COMPLIANT IN PDF FORMAT (about 1 MB)

ATT_Tmobile_Complaint

According to Maisey’s story, the interesting AT&T document showed that if the Commission approves the proposed T-Mobile merger, AT&T will expand . . . → Read More: It’s the Money, Stupid!]]> In a copyrighted story that appeared in the 8/11/11 edition of Wireless Week, Maisey Ramsay wrote about an AT&T/T-Mobile merger document that appeared on the FCC’s web site, and then disappeared few hours later.

According to Maisey’s story, the interesting AT&T document showed that if the Commission approves the proposed T-Mobile merger, AT&T will expand its high speed data network to rural areas beyond that which they’ve already agreed to serve.

This is an interesting revelation given that the wireless carriers have claimed that its local governments that have stymied their growth through right-of-way regulations that they assert block deployment.

Yeah, right.

Of course we know that those carrier-claims are hollow, and that smaller communities go begging for modern celular/PCS/LTE/AWS services and high speed wireless internet

According to the article:

“AT&T senior management concluded that, unless AT&T could find a way to expand its LTE footprint on a significantly more cost-effective basis, an LTE deployment to 80 percent of the U.S. population was the most that could be justified,” AT&T counsel Richard Rosen stated in the letter.

The company said its merger with T-Mobile would spread the cost of the LTE expansion over a larger revenue base, allowing it to “better absorb the increased capital investment and lower returns associated with deploying LTE to over 97 percent of the U.S. population.”

Thanks, Richard…  You’ve confirmed what we’ve known, and what the Commission needs to know.

It’s all about the money…the carriers’ money…

…and not about claims that it’s the local governments are blocking deployment.  It’s the money, stupid!

-Jonathan

T-Mobile USA, Inc. and 7-Eleven, Inc. have jointly announced that you can now buy a prepaid T-Mobile burner phone (with no term contracts, thank you very much) 7-Eleven® stores.

What’s . . . → Read More: Oh Thank Heaven for T-Mobile Burners at 7-Eleven]]> Attention TracFone, you now have more competition trying to knock you down from the top of the heap as the ‘burner phone‘ provider of choice…T-Mobile.

T-Mobile USA, Inc.  and 7-Eleven, Inc. have jointly announced that you can now buy a prepaid T-Mobile burner phone (with no term contracts, thank you very much)  7-Eleven® stores.

What’s better is that T-Mobile’s prepaid plans and services that run on its nationwide 4G network.  That means faster throughput for T-Mobile’s new burner customers including, ah, commercial activities such as independent pharmaceutical sales, and controlled detonations.

As early as 1994, 7-Eleven recognized its customers’ desire for affordable, no term contract airtime, began offering prepaid cards in 1994.

Starting just a few days ago (Aug. 1) 7-Eleven began offering its customers T-Mobile prepaid handset, the LG GS170 for a mere $29.99 (plus taxes and fees, of course)

According to T-Mobile…

the LG GS170 offers an intuitive user interface with one-touch speakerphone, large visible keys and a high-resolution color display. In addition, the LG GS170 features a VGA camera, MP3 ringtone capability, Bluetooth® 2.1, text and picture messaging capability, and email support packaged in a sleek, pocket-size design

“Industry projections indicate that prepaid service will continue its growth trajectory and is expected to comprise a significant portion of the wireless market within the next several years,” said Amy McCune, vice president of national retail for T-Mobile USA. “We believe 7-Eleven’s customers who seek accessibility and convenience will love this prepaid phone. They can expect to receive the high-quality customer service and access to a nationwide 4G network that T-Mobile users have come to expect.”

T-Mobile will offer a $50-per-month plan with unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited Web with no overage charges and the first 100 MB of data at up to 4G speeds, but why would true burner customers want to tie themselves down to such things.

Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, 7-Eleven’s senior vice president of merchandising, marketing and logistics knows how valuable prepaid burner cards are to his organization: “To give you an idea of how many prepaid transactions we conduct, consider that if all the prepaid cards sold on an average day at 7-Eleven stores were placed end to end, they would span more than 30 football fields.”

And don’t expect too much from the LG GS170.  As of the time I wrote this, the  T-Mobile LG GS170 showed that only “15 out of 49(31%)customers would recommend this product.”

Oh well.

Oh Thank Heaven!

The Commission, which is now populated by a majority of members appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, will evaluate whether to propose conditions on the merger. The Commission will be taking public testimony, and moving its review along a fast track which . . . → Read More: CPUC to Review AT&T&T Proposed Merger]]> The California Public Utilities Commission will launch an investigation into the pending AT&T/T-Mobile merger.

The Commission, which is now populated by a majority of members appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, will evaluate whether to propose conditions on the merger.  The Commission will be taking public testimony, and moving its review along a fast track which may result in a Commission action in October of this year.

Here are two links with additional information on the pending CPUC review:

The Los Angeles Times article: http://latimes.com/business/la-fi-puc-att-20110609,0,2964962.story

The CPUC Press Release: http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/word_pdf/NEWS_RELEASE/136944.pdf

Here’s a part of the current advert on T-Mobile’s web site (and paralleling the TV ads currently running):

But once you’re wowed by the big pinkish letters at the top, your eyes may not wonder down to the . . . → Read More: T-Mobile’s “Truly Unlimited” Plan is Truly Limited]]> Here’s a cute little Now-You-See-It-Now-You-Don’t bit of advertising slight-of-hand:  T-Mobile’s current “Truly Unlimited” marketing campaign.

Here’s a part of the current advert on T-Mobile’s web site (and paralleling the TV ads currently running):

But once you’re wowed by the big pinkish letters at the top, your eyes may not wonder down to the fine print above, which says “Includes 2 GB of full-speed data.”

Huh? How can something “Truly Unlimited” have a full speed data transfer limitation?  Later in the ad, also in mouse type is this little gem: “T-Mobile’s plan includes 2 GB at full speeds; reduced speeds for remainder of bill cycle.”

Reduced Speed is, ah, “Truly Unlimited”?

Then, buried down in the page is this little gem:

Data: Data speeds slowed after 2000 MB per billing cycle. Capable device required to achieve 4G speeds. Your data session, plan, or service may be slowed, suspended, terminated, or restricted if you use your service in a way that interferes with or impacts our network or ability to provide quality service to other users, if you roam for a significant portion of your usage, or if you use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth during a billing cycle. You may not use your plan or device for prohibited uses. Messaging: You will be charged for all messages you send and that are sent to you even if they aren’t received. Length/size of messages may be limited.

Now that’s “Truly Unlimited” in my book!

Click here for a PDF of T-Mobile’s “Truly Unlimited” ad as it appears on its web site.”

You’ve got to love those marketing types…And the clever attorneys who write disclaimers for them.

Jonathan

PS: Does anyone know what the ‘reduced speed’ is?  300 baud?  (Sorry…dating myself…) jk