Verizon buying Alltel, Do you think this is good for customers?

Well, here we go again with telecom mergers. Reports that Verizon and Alltel were in talks of a buy out to the tune of $27 million surfaced yesterday, and they made it official today, only that it is more like $28.1 million and they hope to have the transaction completed by the end of the year. Of course this is all subject to approval by regulatory committees and such, so we can all wait anxiously to see if it happens or not.

This is probably a good move for both companies and its stock holders. Verizon and Alltel are already using the same network technology and both have committed to LTE as their 4g networks. With this combination, Verizon will surpass AT&T as the largest subscriber base for a Cell Phone company, not to mention their already enormous network. Looking at it from a business standpoint the synergies of the combined company will be vast, and the profits should greatly increase making stock holders happy. However, this will increase the power that Verizon has, and allow them to play by their rules even more that they already do.

I personally think this is bad for us as consumers (if you could not tell that by my writing above.) Verizon already has a lot of power, and if this is approved it will be just one less compettitor to try and keep then from honest. Add in the fact that the boys at AT&T probably will not take kindly to number 2, and the former rumors of Deutsche Telekom looking into a Sprint acquisition, and we could be in for problems that will further put our networks behind the networks in Europe.

Sprint Windows Mobile Software Update

I recently sent an inquiry in about software updates for the Mogul and Touch in through a dedicated channel for questions for Sprint Dealers.

The following is the email that I sent:

There have been rumors as of late about rom upgrdes for the HTC Touch and Mogul. Can you reveal the release date for these software upgrades? Also can you confirm or deny if these updates will or will not include Windows Mobile 6.1, MMS functionality for both devices, Sprint TV on the mogul, EVDO Rev. A and GPS on the touch, and qchat functionality on either/or?

The following is the response that I received:

Thank you for your patience while we gathered the answer to your questions. Please note; we have a Windows 6.1 Software Update program that will be launching on 6/15. It will affect the Mogul, Touch, Q9C, and Samsung ACE.

Thanks again, and be sure to tune in again next month!

So, they gave me information that I did not want but also left off my questions about specifics.

I will reply and ask for more, but do not count on getting any info.