Cingular Says Stars Must Align for Mergers
Cingular's COO, Mark Feidler, recently said that despite the talk of the inevitability of US wireless carrier consolidation, many hurdles exist before any mergers can take place in the next 12 months. Issues such as ownership structures, management philosophies, network technology, market coverage and branding complicate merger potential. That's all true, but those are all rationalizations for why they haven't happened. Carriers just aren't desperate enough yet. For example the most likely consolidation candidate is T-Mobile. Given their strong Q3 and recent national re-branding, parent Deutsche Telekom isn't ready to cede the US market to a merger.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
