Cell Phone Evolution

Cell phone merger looks to increase North Idaho coverage

The acquisition will cost AT&T $39 billion in a cash and stock transaction. The agreement was approved this spring by the boards of both companies and is currently being reviewed by the FCC. Clearance from the FCC and the Department of Justice is needed before the companies can merge.

While that's being handled in Washington, D.C., what would the merger mean for Idaho?

According to Adam Grzybicki, president of AT&T Idaho, the merger will greatly increase the coverage AT&T now offers - but without increasing the cost to current AT&T customers.

"Ninety-five percent of Idaho will have AT&T coverage after the merger, and we will have an even greater range for our 4G LTE," Grzybicki said.

LTE - Long Term Evolution - is the latest standard in mobile network technology.

The merging of the two companies would give AT&T a broader spectrum, and T-Mobile was targeted, in part, because it's the only other wireless phone company that runs on the GSM frequency band. Grzybicki described it as a good fit.

AT&T's mobile data traffic has grown 8,000 percent over the past four years, and by 2015 is expected to be 8-10 times what it was in 2010.

"The increase of spectrum will allow for better, clearer calls, and faster wireless broadband connection speeds," Grzybicki told the editorial board.

The merger would not only improve service to AT&T subscribers in the city areas, but also to many rural areas of Idaho as well.

With the merger set to cover 95 percent of Idaho and $8 billion being invested into upgrading the infrastructure, rural customers should see a vast increase of phone service in their area, according to Timi Aguilar, AT&T public affairs officer. With greater wireless service, rural businesses can better compete globally, and access to a 4G network can attract new businesses that require fast broadband speeds yet want the benefits of a rural location, she said.

There has been opposition to the merger by other phone companies, mainly by Sprint's president, Dan Henne. Henne has said that the merger would create a duopoly in the wireless phone industry and would hurt the consumers, not help them.

Yet, according to statistics presented by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and a 2010 U.S. GAO report, during periods when carriers combined to achieve efficiencies, wireless prices have fallen.

From 1999 to 2009, when the wireless industry saw Cingular and AT&T merge, Sprint and Nextel merge, Verizon and Alltel merge and two other mergers, wireless prices declined by 50 percent.

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