At first, VoLTE will be used to deliver "Rich Communications Services" (which look like something similar to what Voice over IP/Video over IP outfits offer today) rather than completely replacing narrowband voice. It will be awhile before Verizon is willing to commit to that, due in part to LTE outages in late 2011.
On the flip side is MetroPC, which has pushed VoLTE as hard as it could.
Then there's Sprint, which will stick to voice over 1x for the foreseeable future, but routes Direct Connect over IP. Sprint's latest DC incarnation seems quite similar to one facet of RCS over LTE.
And what I’m saying is that you can’t view this potential merger as only a benefit to the company (or companies) and not a potential detriment to consumers and the market as a whole.
AT&T is fully capable of generating its own competitive appeal for customers. It didn’t need to acquire T-Mobile for that.
Same goes for Sprint. This doesn’t have to happen. What’s supposedly “good” for Sprint isn’t necessarily good for us. Sprint is capable of making it on its own steam... and it should.