Well, I know a thing about non-disclosure agreements, the Company would not do that unless secrecy is important. So this is all about more than T-Mo, for example, getting a 3G or 4G Blackberry.
IMHO the standard for significance is not what might be analyzed as "earth shaking" by geeks, people on these forums, and other "non-consumers," it's what would make the nightly news and all the cable channels.
Using my "what makes the news" standard:
1. A handset launch would not be news. Unless some device technology exists that no one knows about (doubtful since it seems everyone on the Net knows what is in concept, design, manufacture/production and upcoming).
And unless a device can teleport users to any location on earth, I suspect people are burned out on device launches (because nothing is that remarkable nowadays)?
2. 4G would not be news. The public does not understand it so they don't care.
3. A merger would not be news (and more significantly probably not require employees to sign NDAs). Mergers a yawn to consumers. They could care less.
4. Selling the iPhone (oh please, T-Mo selling a phone that has been on the market for two years, that's not news nor earth shaking. Besides, T-Mo in Europe has been selling unlocked iPhones, check it out on the German and UK T-Mo sites).
5. Anyone mentioning multi-touch or other insignificant features, that kind of stuff is not understood by the consumer so such things are not newsworthy (and certainly would not require employees to sign NDAs).
In my opinion the only event that would make all the news channels is T-Mo lowering ALL its plans down to Metro PCS rates.
That would be big news because that's what happens when the airlines get into price wars. When one carrier lowers rates, the other carriers are forced to follow suit. More relevant here, that's what gets covered in the news.
A few years ago I said that eventually the carriers would all move to unlimited talk and data plans; prices for each would be lowered as competition forced each of them to "meet or beat to compete or be left behind." (That's a silly phrase, I know, just humor me.)
What kind of numbers would make the news?
Unlimited talk - $40
Unlimited data - $15 a line
Unlimited talk, data, texting - $60
No more "so many minutes for so many dollars."
This makes sense because T-Mo has no doubt calculated the profits from an across the board, high customer count, rate plans.
Also, a company can save a ton of money by lowering bookkeeping and accounting costs. No more calculations, charges and statements dealing with complicated billings.
Lastly, the carriers are tanking. Profits are way down. Something needs to be done besides introduction of flashy handsets. In any event, people are not buying handsets, at least not like they used to. People are holding on to what they have. (Query: I have not noticed any carrier or handset manufacturer bragging about handset sales, especially when a new model comes out. Is this because handset sales are way down, across the board?)
So all this, IMHO, leaves plan pricing. It's the only "event" that makes sense and would make the news.
A major carrier switching EVERYTHING to LOWER flat-rate unlimited pricing would be news.
Bonus thought: Maybe to generate handset sales (remember, IMHO people are not buying them like they used to, no matter the technology) they might ALSO introduce permanent flat-rate handset prices ($99 for "standard" handsets; $200 for "premium" handsets.)
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