We’ve all used cell phones at some point or another, whether it was to make a call, send a mass text to friends on the weekend or check Facebook in class. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project recently conducted a study with about 3,001 adults. According to the study, 85 percent of Americans over the age of 18 own cell phones. While all of these cell phone owners may be dispersed among different cell phone carriers, the merger of T-Mobile and AT&T is relevant to all of us. The four major carriers will soon become three as a result of AT&T buying T-Mobile, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.

According to The New York Times, the $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile will result in the newly merged entity being the largest cell phone provider in the nation. This would bring together 95.5 million AT&T customers with 33.7 million T-Mobile customers, combining to make up around 42 percent of all wireless subscribers in America.

As both networks operate on relatively similar technology, this combination could help create better overall coverage in the long run. Little is known as to how this will impact the smartphone market. T-Mobile customers who are eager to get the iPhone after the merger is solidified will be able to jump the gun and upgrade or consider other options.

Although there may only be three main cell phone companies left, critics argue that this scenario may not be as negative as it seems. For one, the precise details of this merger aren’t fully known. There is no guarantee that there will be any less competition.

Mergers have a tendency of taking longer than expected for the parties involved, so those that are worrying that their prices may spike up immediately shouldn’t be as worried. Users who are currently under contract on one carrier will not have to change their current contract. As a result, the two companies working with similar overall technology coverage and speeds will be able to be expanded quicker and more efficiently.

The new company would deal with a lot less red tape from the federal, local and state governments in building towers and other communication structures. AT&T, which has already been rolling out their improvements to their network’s speed will be able to enhance integration of the 4G infrastructure across the board. The prevalence of more people using and buying smartphones like the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android-based phones are sure to continually increase. Such phones use up considerably more bandwidth and data than traditional phones. This can help pave the way for a very rigorous structure for those markets to grow and users to fully benefit. Some argue that competition in the long run will flourish as a result of the newly improved and integrated infrastructure.

So, what does this ultimately mean for the end user, or the general public? After the merger is fully worked, users may have a wider selection of phone choices to choose from. Coverage and overall call quality should also improve as well. As for me, I am a T-Mobile customer. For the most part, I’m pretty satisfied with my service as a whole. It’s relatively inexpensive and customer service has always been helpful when my family or I contacted them. However, sometimes when I visit my friends’ apartments off-campus in various parts of Amherst, my service gets a bit spotty. But in most city and suburban environments, I usually don’t experience many dropped calls, or a loss of reception. It’s hard to say whether others experiencing similar to what I sometimes experience are guaranteed to fully benefit from this merger, but there should be some tangible and noticeable improvement along the way.

Overall, much can be said of this merger. One can argue that we are moving towards the days of big unfettered monopolies and conglomerates. If this merger is approved, others may say that our government is allowing and tolerating big business over smaller, more privately owned business. But such arguments and claims have been around for a long time. Either way, if this means that the average user gets to have improved features, or that Facebook will load faster on their phone, then this might be beneficial. The merger is said to take many months to fully go into effect, so only time will tell. Perhaps many who want can download their beer apps, or use FaceTime sometime in the near future.

Seyi Obasa is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]