The new guys are appearing on the market, but their coverage is limited. A bit like Metro PCS & Co.

So T-Mobile being bought by AT&T, US of America are gonna suffer the same hell.

First, to @Jonas, my experience (most recently 2+ years ago) was that I got at least 3 honest-to-God bars every time I powered up my GSM phone in China. Most of that trip was to rural and even desert areas (e.g., Xinjiang Province, which borders Mongolia & Tibet). Admittedly, I stopped largely at tourist areas but much of our trip was truly remote (a mountain village where small solar panels were the only electricity) and I mostly looked just to pinch myself. As an investment type, I acknowledge this coverage might represent over-investment, but don’t kid yourself about decent coverage requiring high, European-style density. (Otherwise, PA would have fine coverage for @JLG.)

Second, @JLG: Commissioner Genachowski, I believe, clearly delineated how the FCC spectrum auction can be gamed by incumbents to protect their positions, and others have claimed that is exactly what they have done. I personally believe that the format of the auction helps lock in the high-cost / low-quality situation you rightly bemoan. Does your creativity extend to a way that we can get out of this trap?

Yes, note the qualifier “parts of China”. Some parts of the US are damn good too, namely cities. The other nations? Well, they are a lot smaller and a lot more dense. Surely the reason why US has a terrible wireless infrastructure has something to do with its size and lack of density.

How do you propose getting cellphone access to rural Americans? Unless there’s a satisfying answer, AT&T’s got a good bargaining chip for getting federal approval.