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?

unspecified

Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates swipe nearly $2B in packages from Texas homes this year

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

Getty Images

The Grinch isn't the only one stealing Christmas these days.

’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

holidays porch pirates crime