business practises.

it finally happened. the long-awaited consolidation of the u.s. cellular market has begun. it ends when you decide, and we both drink. er. for more immediate web-type coverage, go check slashdot ;)

i have to say, i've been pretty happy with my cingular service. scanning the posts on /. it appears to be about 50/50, depending where you live. verizon around here sucks ass. and their customer service sucks ass. and sprint sucks ass. ever since t-mobile became t-mobile (i.e. when Deutsche Telekom bought out voicestream), they've been getting better. if i switched, i'd switch to them, but...ya know, my calls connect, my voicemail works, and i get reception. what else do i need, really?

that's not to say it's been all perfect; i've had my share of billing problems with cingular, but they've always been very nice and polite, and quick to answer my questions and resolve any problem. as an added bonus, their call center is in oklahoma instead of india.

probably if i was an AT&T customer, i'd be more concerned, but all i'm really curious about is: will they keep att's "go phone" plans? no credit check and no contract sounded like a phenomenal deal to me. i almost switched last september when my free phone offer came from cingular (every 2 years, they give you a free phone, but it usually involves a plan "upgrade"), but even back then i heard cingular was going to buy at&t wireless, so i figured to hell with it.

well, well. it ought to be interesting to watch, at least.