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T-Mobile and Metro PCS Set To Merge

Gmash

Gmash

Extreme Android User
T-Mobile and MetroPCS to merge - Oct. 3, 2012

I'm glad the deal with AT&T didn't go through, and I hope this strengthens T-Mobile, we need more legit competition. I'm wondering how this will work since T-Mo is GSM and Metro is CDMA.
Have to call BS on the author of the article, though. Both carriers have lackluster smartphone lineups because they don't offer the iPhone? Give me a break!
 
Ya know, I wondered that too when finding out Metro was CDMA. Wonder if the networks' LTE are the same bands?
Either way, it becomes more intriguing as I'm always debating leaving VZW when my contract is up.
 
The deal will indeed strengthen T-Mobile, it'll up them to 42 million customers. However, it could do even better; because T-Mobile/MetroPCS appeal most to the quickly growing pre-paid subscriber demographic, they could grow even more - an article I read yesterday said they could pass Sprint as the third largest carrier within two years.

T-Mobile being a GSM carrier and MetroPCS being a CDMA carrier does mean that current customers won't see any kind of service boost from the network merge. However, the companies share the same spectrum bands and both have an LTE plan as their future aim, so it's likely that a unified LTE service is the eventual plan. Of course, a transition like that would take years, so we'll see how well they can manage three separate networks until then.
 
Metro has an LTE network now, albeit small, so that at least gets T-Mobile's foot in the door with that. Since Metro is far smaller, I would guess eventually they would want to go all GSM. I wonder how hard it would be to convert Metro's CDMA towers to GSM.
 
The Sprint bid is not surprising. I guess I'm going to root for T-Mobile in this one, although I would have preferred for Metro PCS to stay independent. They are the only U.S. carrier whose strategy is to cut out as many BS charges as possible and still make money.
 
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