AT&T threatens WiMax joint venture
AT&T is looking to put a kibosh on the proposed merger of Sprint Nextel's nationwide WiMax assets with those of Clearwire.
On Thursday, the nation's largest phone company filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission, asking it to deny approval of the merger.
Sprint Nextel announced in May that it was teaming up with Clearwire to form a new joint venture that would combine both companies' WiMax assets to create a nationwide broadband wireless network. The deal, which has been valued at about $14.5 billion, is being backed by cable operators Comcast and Time Warner, as well as Intel and Google.
The FCC, which is currently reviewing the merger, must give its blessing for the deal to be completed.
In its filing, AT&T argues that the proposed merger, "openly state[s] that they (Sprint Nextel and Clearwire) intend to compete with other national wireless providers--including AT&T--yet they fail to make the required showings necessary for the commission's review."
It's funny that AT&T is putting up any kind of stink to the merger, considering that the company exists in its current state only because of several massive mergers in the past few years, including the multibillion dollar merger between AT&T and BellSouth, which put full ownership of the wireless operator under one owner, and the purchase of wireless assets from rural operator Dobson Communications last year.
But it's clear that AT&T is nervous about the new Clearwire's plans. AT&T is currently still deploying 3G technology throughout its territory and is busy upgrading its existing network. But it is years away from taking the next big leap toward building a 4G network, which will use a competing technology known as Long Term Evolution, or LTE. By contrast, WiMax technology is available and working today. And regardless of the outcome of the merger, Sprint expects to launch its first WiMax deployments in September. What's more, devices supporting WiMax have already been developed and will hit the market by year's end.
While analysts still aren't sure whether WiMax will survive in the long run as a mobile technology here in the U.S., it appears from AT&T's latest moves that it's at least a little bit scared that the new Clearwire network, with backing from heavyweights like Intel and Google, could get enough traction to threaten its current and future wireless business.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
Wouldn't that just be terrible? 8^)
Let's not forget that AT&T participated in the unlawful violation of the Constitution.
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AT&T, let Sprint blow their money on it... If Sprint uses their same horrible customer service the project will be a failure...... And you can snap up the pieces in bankruptcy court.. . DUH!!!!
The last year or so I've read that Sprint has been trying to improve their customer service.
I've recently bought new cell phones for my parents - they're on my family account and added my wife (from Verizon). A few weeks ago, I bought a new cell phone from a partner-owned Sprint store and they made a mistake (forgot to keep my Vision Plan). I called customer service, she answered giving me her name, resolved the issue quickly and was very polite. Don't know how the call could have gone better.
Maybe I've been lucky over the last year or so, but I would rate Sprint customer service very highly of late. (Don't get me started on Charter Cable TV, they are awful.)
E.g.
The T-i-Phone on T-Mobile
The V-i-Phone on Verizon
The S-i-Phone on Sprint (yuck!)
You get the idea..... Mobile phone companies have gotten around exclusive agreements for years just by creating slightly different phone names and slightly different model numbers in each offering for years. Apple could have done the same. If anyone was going to cry and whine I'm surprised it isn't Verizon Wireless... Verizon's footprint pales in comparison to AT&T's which controls all of SBCs old area plus Bellsouth and--- AT&T (Mom-Bell's) old national long distance company all under one roof. The only real large Verizon mergers in recent years is Alltel Wireless and- buying up the defunct assets of MCI Long distance phone company.... Other than that AT&T is times larger than Verizon and even Verizon doesn't cry and whine about it.
Actually, Verizon's "footprint" is larger than AT&T's, though each one's coverage varies. Of course, with all the roaming agreements, the footprints don't mean much except in rural areas and data use.
"Other than that AT&T is times larger than Verizon" Since both cover much more than half of the land mass of the USA, it's impossible for either one to be times larger.
Try knowing what you talk about before spewing.
Go Sprint, go.
- by geekazine July 27, 2008 1:49 PM PDT
- I commend AT&T for at least trying. You never know what can happen.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (25 Comments)HOWEVER, I think it's a dumb move on AT&T's part. I can't wait for WiMax.