> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://birchtree.me/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# This is why major company acquisitions put me on edge
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/this-is-why-major-company-acquisitions-put-me-on-edge/
- Published: 2023-10-18T06:44:10.000Z
- Updated: 2023-10-18T06:44:10.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: Links, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

[Karl Bode: Everything T-Mobile, Sprint Merger Critics Predicted Has Come True](https://www.techdirt.com/2023/10/17/everything-t-mobile-sprint-merger-critics-predicted-has-come-true/?ref=birchtree.me)

> Gone are the interesting new promotions. Gone is the amusing ridicule of wireless giants like Verizon and AT&T. Gone is the [pseudo](https://www.techdirt.com/2014/11/11/t-mobiles-ultra-hip-ceo-not-so-ultra-hip-when-it-comes-to-his-clumsy-status-quo-opposition-to-net-neutrality/?ref=birchtree.me)\-hip trash talking CEO in his magenta sneakers. In its place is a wireless provider that looks more and more like the companies T-Mobile used to ridicule.

And:

> historically around the world, a reduction in overall wireless competitors from four to three almost always resulted in a bunch of layoffs, less competition, higher prices, and a lower quality product overall.

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for the past decade and if I had to pick a date for when the service stopped improving, it lines up almost perfectly with when they acquired Sprint. Prices are going up and the service is now completely undifferentiated from what I can get from Verizon and AT&T in my area.

Thanks to the magic of eSIM I’ve trialed Verizon recently and the coverage was marginally better for me, but the cost was almost identical to what I pay through T-Mobile so I didn’t change because the switching cost (inconvenience, mostly) was too high.

I originally switched to T-Mobile because they were the “un-carrier” and they had deals that seemed innovative and fun in a way that the biggest guys couldn’t do.” Today, they feel completely interchangeable with everyone else. And just like the other carriers, now [my rate is going to rise next month](https://tmo.report/2023/10/breaking-t-mobile-will-force-customers-onto-newer-plans-unless-you-opt-out/?ref=birchtree.me) despite one of their main pitches a few years ago being they won’t do that. But don’t worry, it’s not a price increase, they’re just moving me to a new plan that happens to cost more 🙃

> We are not raising the price of any of our plans; we are moving you to a newer plan with more benefits at a different cost.