Why does AT&T need to gobble up T-Mobile? It’s all about dropped calls on the iPhone and the sick amount of data the iPad is slurping up, AT&T argues in their latest filing with the FCC.
Here’s the relevant quote from the filing, which justifies AT&T’s plans to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion.
A smartphone generates 24 times the mobile data traffic of a conventional wireless phone, and the explosively popular iPad and similar tablet devices can generate traffic comparable to or even greater than a smartphone. AT&T’s mobile data volumes surged by a staggering 8,000% from 2007 to 2010, and as a result, AT&T faces network capacity constraints more severe than those of any other wireless provider.
According to AT&T, this $39 billion would be better spent buying T-Mobile then expanding their own network themselves. The results for users will include a “reduced number of dropped and blocked calls, increasing data speeds, improving in-building coverage, and dramatically expanding deployment of next-generation mobile technology.”
There’s a lot of reasons to be skeptical of these arguments, given the shameful unwillingness AT&T has shown in upgrading its network to cope with demand, even as they claimed exclusivity over the most popular smartphone on Earth.
What do you think? Do you trust AT&T’s reasons for the acquisition? Let us know in the comments.
[via 9to5Mac]
