Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
Having a few days off over the past week allowed me to get in some much needed afternoon television watching. (What happened to all my soap operas?! Where is Oprah going?! Where did all of these court shows come from?!)
While flipping through the multitude of television choices this modern age provides and finding nothing to actually watch, I couldn’t help but keep thinking of all the time and effort the wireless industry put in this year regarding AT&T’s attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA. From the moment that deal was announced in mid-March until it was finally called off a couple weeks back, that proposal has been the topic of conversation for just about everyone involved in some way with the telecom space.
Are you a rival carrier? You were talking about what sort of competitive impact the deal was going to have on operations. Are you a tower owner? You were talking about what sort of impact having one fewer customer was going to have on business. Do you make a plastic molding for a cellphone? You were talking about the impact having one fewer domestic carrier was going to have on business.
Now, as a reporter covering the wireless industry, having something as juicy as this proposed deal was sort of a gift that kept on giving. There were so many angles to the deal and so many ways to delve into what sort of impact this deal would have on the market. I have to say that at least for those of us covering the event it was sort of sweet and provided instant conversation starters for just about any industry occasion.
But, then that deal died, and it seemed that all of that effort was for naught. It was like we were all discussing whether a rabid unicorn had any chance in a fair fight with a dragon. (Obviously, in a fair fight it would be all dragon. But … prison rules … I would have to side with the unicorn.)
All of that time wasted got me a bit hot under the collar, a feeling that finally found some relief when I stumbled onto a commercial for a local lawyer promising to get me all the money I deserved for just about anything that could have possible wronged me. Not sure exactly what his name was, but I am pretty sure his middle name was “The Hammer!”
That’s when it clicked. I need to file a lawsuit against AT&T, T-Mobile USA and just about anyone else involved in this farce of a deal. According to “The Hammer!,” that’s the only way I can get my life back on track. (Who am I to argue with “The Hammer!”?)
But, despite “The Hammer!” claiming that the only way my life could get back on track was through monetary compensation sufficient to buy that motorcycle and radio-controlled helicopter I did not realize I wanted, all I think I want from this injustice is those nine months of my life back. Plus, I figure for a company like AT&T that can fork over $3 billion in cash for a deal not to happen, what sort of dent will my need for two wheels and an eye-in-the-sky really make? This is a company that despite its inability to provide sufficient data capacity/coverage in San Francisco I think has the resources to put together some sort of time machine to get me back those nine months. What could go wrong?
Some might claim that without this AT&T/T-Mobile USA shenanigan that the year might have been a bit duller and thus I should just be thankful that AT&T even attempted such an asinine acquisition. That would be a valid point, if we were talking about someone with a rational bone in their body following days of holiday-related overeating.
So, as soon as I can get off this couch and bend over to tie my shoes, I am getting “The Hammer!” on the phone to get me some justice.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
–Perhaps LTE still needs some time to cook:
4GLTE issue resolved overnight. 3G operated normally; calling, texting were unaffected.
— Verizon Wireless (@VZWnews) December 29, 2011
Verizon Wireless’ LTE network again took a hit as for the third time in three weeks the carrier’s high-speed network took a nap.
Even better, this latest outage comes just as Verizon was touting its network leadership. D’oh!
–Speaking of Verizon Wireless, good to see they are making it as difficult as possible for people to give them money. Wasn’t one of the benefits of online payments that it would allow companies to cut costs in having “someone” process those transactions?
Wonder if there is any sort of connection those paying the $2 fee can make to the LTE network outages?
–Finally, big props to MetroPCS for getting in on the caged action.
I welcome your comments. Please send me an email at dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
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