“While this is great news for both companies, it's an awful idea for consumers - and I desperately hope the US antitrust authorities rake this merger over the coals,” declared .  Segan predicts T-Mobile’s lower-priced service plans will evaporate,  dismisses AT&T’s claims that past mergers have led to lower prices in the cellular industry over the past decade, and U.S. consumers will have fewer phones to choose from.

“The merged carrier will not have T-Mobile's friendliness, nimbleness, or level of customer service,” Segan writes. “Just like in the horrifying Sprint-Nextel mess or during the long, slow, grinding AT&T/Cingular merger, the merged carrier will sink to the minimum customer service level of its parts.”

Others are focusing on the alleged decrease in competition. “[The] American [wireless] competitive landscape looks a lot like duopoly because two major companies now control the vast majority of the market, creating an impenetrable barrier to entry for other players,” writes .  “On the upside, consumers may benefit from a single business entity operating a huge GSM network.”

John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for “Network World.”

Twitter: Email: john_cox@nww.comBlog RSS feed: