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This is why major company acquisitions put me on edge

Posted by Matt Birchler
— 1 min read

Karl Bode: Everything T-Mobile, Sprint Merger Critics Predicted Has Come True

Gone are the interesting new promotions. Gone is the amusing ridicule of wireless giants like Verizon and AT&T. Gone is the pseudo-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 ā€œun-carrierā€ and they had deals that seemed innovative and fun in a way that the biggest guys couldn’t do.ā€ Today, they feel completely interchangeable with everyone else. And just like the other carriers, now my rate is going to rise next month 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 šŸ™ƒ

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.