https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180501/08110439750/t-mobile-ceo-hallucinates-competitors-bid-to-sell-competition-killing-sprint-merger.shtml >Time and time and time again, U.S. telecom companies have promised us that better customer service, lower prices, and more competition is only possible if the latest industry mega merger is approved. But time and time again those promises not only don't materialize, but the deals wind up making an already broken market worse. As a result, the telecom sector sees historically awful customer service, higher prices, and all manner of additional problems ranging from broadband coverage gaps to net neutrality and privacy violations (both symptoms of limited competition). >Everybody's favorite villain, Comcast, is a direct result of mindless M&A mania where upgrades, customer service, and competitive pricing took a back seat to growth for growth's sake. So is AT&T. And despite history being very fucking clear on this front, here we are again bearing witness to the same, age old idiotic "synergy" claims as T-Mobile tries to sell the press and public on its planned $26 billion acquisition of Sprint.