What will the future hold?

Fuzzy reception: There's nothing clear about the union of AT&T and T-Mobile

By now, you've heard the wails of despair from T-Mobile subscribers — and the yelps of glee from AT&T diehards — about cellular behemoth AT&T acquiring the beloved T-Mobile for $39 billion.

It was nothing short of The Shot Heard 'Round the Telecom World. T-Mobile-ites speculated on the anticipated loss of the superior customer service they've come to rely upon, and the AT&T faithful began to hope that their coverage would finally improve, once and for all.

Both camps can hypothesize until the SIM cards come home, but what does this actually mean if you're a part of either network?

First of all, everyone needs to take a deep breath. Neither T-Mobile nor AT&T users will feel the effects for at least 365 days. The deal won't close until a year from now, which means T-Mobile won't get the iPhone until at least 2012.

Sure, when a corporate giant like AT&T swallows a small fish like T-Mobile, the giant emerges a bit more galvanized as a result. But what happens to the fish?

If you ask T-Mobile, not a whole lot is going to change.

On its site, in a Q&A dedicated to dispelling a few merger myths, T-Mobile assures its loyal fan base that things are staying the same.

"T-Mobile USA continues to operate as an independent company," the company said. "The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile USA will offer an even stronger service to customers. Your T-Mobile USA device will operate the same in the future as it does today."

Will it?

Not according to AT&T. AT&T told the Associated Press that T-Mobile's 3G airwaves will be "repurposed" for 4G after acquisition — essentially leaving T-Mobile 3G phones in the dust. The only solution will be to procure phones that use AT&T's frequencies.

Now that sounds like a pretty sizeable change to us.

So which provider comes out the winner here? It depends on who you're rooting for. If you think anything about this deal is clear, we'd like to borrow your spectacles to de-fog the view.

For now, all we have are a lot of guesses and a slew of conflicting, hazy answers at best. But we'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter — logical to harebrained — nonetheless.

Weigh in, dear reader. What does the joint future of AT&T and T-Mobile hold?

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”