Justice Department OKs Cingular - AT&T Deal

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041026/ap_on_bi_ge/cingular_at_t_wireless' target='_blank'>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041026/ap_on_bi_ge/cingular_at_t_wireless</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Justice Department antitrust regulators cleared the way Monday for Cingular Wireless LLC's $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., a crucial step toward creating the nation's largest wireless telephone company. The merger still must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. That could come as early as Tuesday."</i><br /><br />One more hurdle to go...

[NTzeke]

I am wondering how quickly any approval given by the FCC will affect consumers. I am assuming that even when all the red tape is cut through that it still might be some time next year before all ATT Wireless phones can be bought on a cingular plan.

[zeke009]

I called AT&T last night to ask whether or not I was still under contract, I was on my way to a T-Mobile store when I remembered I did not call them yet. Long story short, I am stuck with AT&T for another 151 days.

Anyway, I ended up talking to the very cheerful (yes, good customer service this time) lady at AT&T.

She said that they had received their Cingular ids and passwords for some of the Cingular systems and instead of seeing changes next summer, she thought it would happen after christmas in early 2005. She said how they were all surprised how quickly the merger was approved.

I asked her what it meant for customers, because I was calling to drop their server and goto to T-Mobile and save $20 a month on the same plan with better features. She wasn't too sure of specifics, but she thought that new plans and better prices were going to be an immediate plus for customers.

Whether I like it or not, I'm stuck with AT&T and paying an extra $20 a month for the next 151 days... I just hope the Cingular deal moves along faster and smoother than they predict.