Spoiled by the All-in-One Gadget

By SAM GROBART
NYT

AT&T’s announcement last Sunday that it plans to acquire T-Mobile was quickly analyzed to be bad news for consumers. If the merger is approved, rates are likely to go up, not just for T-Mobile customers, but for everyone, as there will then be only three companies carving up the majority of the national mobile market.

Some consumer advocates and politicians will decry this as Big Mobile enriching itself on the backs of the American consumer. And while that may be true, we will nevertheless continue paying, because the mobile operators well know, and we know too, that for many of us, our smartphones have become invaluable.

It is little wonder why: The smartphone contains massive computing power in a hand-held package. It is connected to a global data network that moves words, sounds and images from one end of the earth to another at the speed of light. It is changing the worlds of communication, commerce, politics, entertainment and countless others.

A rise in rates would bring the United States in line with many other countries. Currently, the United States enjoys one of the more affordable mobile marketplaces in the world. Over the past five years, per-minute costs have gone down in the United States by 50 percent, according to Chetan Sharma, a mobile analyst. In countries like France and Italy, the decline has been only 20 percent.

(More here.)

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