Survey Shows Public Uninformed on AT&T/T-Mobile Deal

The No Takeover Project -- a non-profit that seeks to kill the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA and counts as members the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), Council for Public Knowledge and Future of Music, among others -- released a survey that it says overwhelmingly shows that cellular customers oppose and AT&T/T-Mobile deal.

While compelling, a close look at the results of the online survey that polled a swath of 1,000 cellular customers from across the country on different carriers appears to be more a split decision, with some consumers changing their attitude towards the deal once they were informed about it. "Not a whole lot of people really know that the deal is out there and the impact of the merger," said Steve Berry, CEO of the RCA. That seems to be the gist of it; consumers just simply are not aware of the deal. According to the survey, just 29 percent of wireless consumers know that AT&T is trying to take over T-Mobile, while 71 percent are unaware of the details of the proposed deal. On the whole, T-Mobile customers appeared to be more aware of the deal than the overall group of consumers. Fully 52 percent of T-Mobile customers know AT&T is trying to take over their provider, and they don't like it. The No Takeover Project writes in a press release that it is because of their ignorance of the deal that wireless consumers nominally support the deal, with 45 percent in support, 24 percent opposed, and a full 31 percent undecided or harboring no opinion.