Are Altice, other cable operators targeting T-Mobile?

This past week at a conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs, the chairman of French telecom company Altice noted the cable operator needed to look into owning a mobile network. Many see Patrick Drahi’s comments as an indication that Altice may be interested in scooping up T-Mobile as part of a strategy to offer a “quad play” to consumers. Altice is not the only company interested in T-Mobile, or other wireless carriers, as an interesting M&A drama starts to unfold.

Financial analysts are starting to increase their price targets on companies like T-Mobile. BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk recently pushed his estimate for T-Mobile from $42 to $50 as he believes “T-Mobile could be a primary acquisition target of cable operators.”

Interest in wireless carrier and cable operator combos is increasing after the successful acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T. At the same time, the cable industry in experiencing a consolidation of its own, like the recent acquisition announcement of Time Warner by Charter. While companies like Altice may want to take a longer “wait and see” while they explore possibilities, the limited number of wireless carriers and cable consolidation is going to put pressure on them to move sooner rather than later.

Even as a company like Altice slowly starts to eye a carrier like T-Mobile, partly due to a belief that prices are too high, the wireless carriers are successfully improving their business model to increase revenues and thus, put upward pressure on their price. T-Mobile’s John Legere has suggested in the past, in connection with rumors of a Comcast acquisition, that it makes sense for wireless carriers and cable operators to join together. Even though the wireless carriers may be open to new business combinations, their success may prove to be a double-edged sword for any companies that hesitate.

If Altice is not ready to make a move for T-Mobile, other companies like Comcast may not wait around. For T-Mobile, a merger or acquisition with someone with a larger footprint in the U.S. would make more sense.

source: Fierce Wireless

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Verizon becomes first US carrier to offer roaming in Cuba

Verizon announced on Thursday that it will begin offering call, text and data access to customers visiting the Caribbean nation as part of its Pay-As-You-Go International Travel option. The plan will charge $3 a minute for voice, standard international messaging rates and a whopping $2.05 per megabyte. That means you’d be on the hook for more than two grand if you used a gigabyte of data while on the island. At those rates, you’d be better off bringing a pocket full of change and taking your chances with a public pay phone. This announcement comes on the heels of T-Mobile’s declaration that it is expanding its Simple Global plan to 20 more countries (though not Cuba).

[Image Credit: Getty Images]

T-Mobile announces expansion of its Simple Choice Plan to more countries

T-Mobile is on the move. Today, the company announced that it will be supplying better coverage in international countries.

T-Mobile is expanding upon its Simple Choice Plan that lets subscribers in many different countries avoid international overages. The plan includes unlimited data and texts at no additional cost. Calls will be just $0.20 per minute. This will now be available to all residents in South America and Europe, including all 145 countries that support T-Mobile’s network. This is up from 115 at launch.

T-Mobile stated 140 times more data was consumed since it began having international roaming included in their plans even with the limited download speeds.

T-Mobile was super happy to announce that the Bahamas will now support its new international roaming plan. According to John Legere, the Bahamas is one of the most popular travel spots among Americans and has nearly 2 Million travelers each year. The company is also expanding to Haiti, Isle of Man, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Monaco, Albania, Bosnia, Liechtenstein, Belarus, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, Montenegro, Jersey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan.

For more details, hit the source link down below.

Source: T-Mobile

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CCA and T-Mobile disagree with AT&T’s 700 MHz purchase

AT&T have said that T-Mobile and the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) are challenging it’s purchase of Lower 700 MHz spectrum without any reason as to why. T-Mobile claims that AT&T bought it simply to take more low-band spectrum.

Joan Marsh, AT&T’s vice president of federal regulatory said:

“AT&T’s ownership of 700 MHz B Block licenses is wholly uncontroversial — we purchased many in the 700 MHz auction and have been enhancing our B block footprint through small deals for some time,”

He went on to say how the spectrum was purchased to “provide AT&T with a sufficient position to support a 10 x 10 MHz LTE deployment in 700 MHz in the relevant markets”. A 10 MHz configuration is more spectrally efficient and has a larger throughput than a 5 x 5 MHz deployment. The FCC has also endorsed this type of thing before.

Marsh said T-Mobile offered no real argument to oppose the deal.

“without offering any cogent argument or justification, CCA and T-Mobile have opposed the deal, arguing that the Commission should simply prohibit any incremental low-band spectrum aggregation by AT&T and Verizon. Period. They essentially assert that low band spectrum transactions should be deemed presumptively unlawful for any company named AT&T or Verizon.”

The FCC came out with new rules last year stating that if a carrier gained control of one-third of the spectrum below 1 GHz in a given market they will be under enhanced review.

Marsh commented on the new rules and what CCA and T-Mobile said:

“With this argument, CCA and T-Mobile fundamentally misconstrue the FCC’s new enhanced factor analysis,” and “Far from any presumptive standard, the Commission has retained its fact-based, case-by-case approach to transaction reviews, an approach that has worked well for many years in that it balances public interest benefits against concrete competitive harms. In the enhanced review, the Commission now considers low band aggregation as an enhanced factor that warrants heightened scrutiny. And given the detailed information the Commission has sought on this transaction, it is clear the Commission is taking the heightened scrutiny standard very seriously.”

CCA President Steve Berry was not too impressed with AT&T and said to FierceWireless:

“Despite being given every opportunity imaginable, AT&T has yet to meet its burden of proving why it needs so much low-band spectrum in rural markets and how this transaction significantly benefits the public interest,”

Source: AT&T, FierceWireless

Come comment on this article: CCA and T-Mobile disagree with AT&T’s 700 MHz purchase

T-Mobile adds Lifetime Coverage Guarantee for JUMP! On Demand customers

T-Mobile is at it again and improving their customer service through a guarantee that you will be satisfied with their coverage. The eligible customers are the ones who are on the JUMP! On Demand plan – the plan where you sign up to pay for a device in installments but are allowed to upgrade 3X per year with no upgrade fees. All you have to do is trade in your device.

The Lifetime Coverage Guarantee not only helps keep customers happy who may move locations where T-Mobile’s coverage is not as good, but it also helps new customers try out T-Mobile with no financial risk. This is especially good for customers on AT&T and Verizon who are looking to save money, but fear having lesser service. As an AT&T customer myself, my fear is once I switch to T-Mobile, I may have lesser coverage which is more important to me than saving a few bucks.

So with T-Mobile’s new guarantee, if at anytime you are not satisfied with your coverage, and want to switch to another carrier, they will reimburse you for up to a full month’s service. In addition, they will unlock your qualified smartphone(which I’m guessing needs to be paid off), so you can use it at another carrier. If you happen to be a new customer, T-Mobile will completely refund you the cost of what you paid for your device on top of the month’s service.

According to the press release, here is how it works:

How it Works

• New or existing Simple Choice™ customers sign up for JUMP! On Demand with an eligible device.
• If at any time you aren’t completely satisfied with T-Mobile’s coverage and want to switch, we’ll reimburse up to a full month’s service and completely refund your device OR unlock it so you can use it somewhere else:
  • If you aren’t satisfied with your service within 30 days, you can return your device for a full refund, and we’ll reimburse any service costs.
  • After the first 30 days, if you want to leave and continue making interest-free device payments with JUMP! On Demand, you simply need to call us or visit one of our stores and we will have your device unlocked so you can keep it and use it elsewhere. And you’ll receive a refund of your current month of service.
  • As not all devices may be fully compatible with other wireless networks, customers should consult with T-Mobile’s customer care or retail sales team to understand with which networks their device is compatible.
• You must call us or visit a participating T-Mobile store to enact your Lifetime Coverage Guarantee benefits before cancelling or porting service to another company
• Customers who cancel service and remain on a T-Mobile financing program will lose any promotional pricing credits and return to standard JUMP! On Demand pricing for their phones.
• FAQs
  What phones are covered by the Lifetime Coverage Guarantee?
  • All phones included in JUMP! On Demand with Extended Range 4G LTE are covered.

  Who can take advantage of the Lifetime Coverage Guarantee?

  • All customers who purchase an eligible device on JUMP! On Demand can take advantage of the Lifetime Coverage Guarantee.

  Is this available to T-Mobile @Work/business customers?

  • Yes, absolutely.

  How long does the guarantee last?

  • The benefits of the guarantee are good as long you are using that phone on T-Mobile and current on your payments.

  What happens if I want to leave in less than 30 days?

  • You can cancel service and return your device for a full refund of  service charges and device costs.
  • If you’d like to keep your device with interest-free financing but cancel service and have it unlocked, you must have paid your first full month’s bill.

  What are all the charges that T-Mobile will cover if I leave? Will you pay for me to switch back to my old carrier?

  • T-Mobile will cover monthly service charges, taxes and fees.
  • You are responsible for any 3rd party or incremental services or features that you’ve added to your phone.
  • T-Mobile will refund your SIM starter kit cost and you will not be charged for restocking.
  • All fees associated with start up at another carrier are not covered.

  Will T-Mobile pay for any services/features I’ve added to my phone during the last month of service?

  • You are responsible for any 3rd party or incremental services or features that you’ve added to your phone.
  • T-Mobile will cover monthly service charges, taxes and fees.

  What about handset insurance? Can I keep that through T-Mobile if I cancel service?  If I don’t have it, can I sign up for it when I cancel service?

  • If you did not initially sign up for handset insurance (PHP), then at time of cancellation, you will be able to sign up for PHP, when you call us or visit one of our participating T-Mobile stores, without a 3 point inspection.

  How is this program different than T-Mobile’s existing remorse policy?

  • This program enables you to return your device within 30 days and receive a full refund for your phone purchase and your monthly service. Additionally, beyond 30 days, you can cancel your service at any time, received up to a full month of service refund, have your iPhone unlocked and even keep your interest free financing plan. Our standard remorse policy for these devices allows for return and refund of phone purchases within 14 days.

Selfishly, I would love to see AT&T match this plan because where I live my service has worsened dramatically over the last 6 months and I’m looking for a change.

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