T-Mobile bolsters coverage with purchase of SunCom

We found out back in August that T-Mobile fared well in the second quarter of this year. Business isn’t exactly booming, but the fourth largest cell phone carrier in the US is making strides towards the third largest, Sprint. T-Mobile strode further early this week, acquiring SunCom Wireless for a total of $2.4 billion. This will enable them to boost coverage in the Southeastern United States, as well as the Caribbean. We really do like T-Mobile. They have excellent customer service, at least in our experience, and their plans are reasonable. We also have heard stories from friends that they treat their long-term customers very well, giving them exclusive deals on plans and phones. The problem we have with them is coverage. They simply don’t have the network for true national coverage. The worst of all their coverage is on the East coast, so this acquisition is quite significant. While the Northeast still remains spotty and unreliable, coverage in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia will allow them to expand their customer bases in those areas. Another advantage to T-Mobile is decreased roaming costs. Since 2004 they have had a roaming agreement with SunCom. They’ll gladly trade the increased network maintenance for the decreased roaming costs. After all, they can be the most burdensome of a cell carrier’s costs. Another advantage: 1.1 million additional customers. There’s no guarantee that all SunCom customers will stay with T-Mobile, but every little bit will help close the gap between the fourth and third largest cell carriers. [PC World]]]>