A Sprint, T-Mobile Merger is Coming Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son this week made it abundantly clear that the company intends to take a second run at acquiring T-Mobile soon. The company's first attempt to acquire T-mobile was blocked in 2014 by regulators worried that the deal would reduce competition in the wireless space, raising rates for consumers. But Son told reporters this week that those Obama-era regulators were "quite tough on business," and now the "door is open" to Sprint making another run at gobbling up the uncarrier.

"Our top choice remains T-Mobile," said Son. "We will be open and sincere as we aim to launch negotiations." Son and Sprint have been trying to butter up the Trump administration for months in the hopes of greasing the skids for the deal, going so far as to even let Trump take credit for a job and investment plan Softbank unveiled before Trump was even elected. Collusion rules prohibited Sprint and T-Mobile about talking about such a deal during the recent 600Mhz spectrum auction, but those restrictions were lifted April 27. T-Mobile CEO John Legere said earlier this year that T-Mobile (and its owner Deutsche Telekom) remained open to "various forms of consolidation." But given T-Mobile's ongoing success here in the States, the acquisition price tag could be substantially steeper for an already debt-saddled Sprint. That said, Son says that the company remains open to other major deals (like an acquisition by Comcast or Charter) should T-Mobile rebuke the company's advances this go round. "We’re basically open to anything," said Son. "If there is an opportunity that will lead to industry realignment under better conditions, we will study [each option] with an open mind." Granted it should go without saying that eliminating one of the more successful competitors in wireless and rolling it under the umbrella of a company that has been plagued with dysfunction for the better part of the last decade may not end well for consumers (or employees at either company). But given the FCC and DOJ's Granted it should go without saying that eliminating one of the more successful competitors in wireless and rolling it under the umbrella of a company that has been plagued with dysfunction for the better part of the last decade may not end well for consumers (or employees at either company). But given the FCC and DOJ's current leadership , that's unlikely to stall a deal that Sprint pretty clearly hopes is inevitable.







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Most recommended from 103 comments

shmerl

join:2013-10-21 42 recommendations shmerl Member We're basically open to anything? How about building out your network and actually competing? Ah, I guess they aren't open enough for that. mmmdonuts

join:2011-02-28

Raleigh, NC 12 recommendations mmmdonuts Member This makes for a bad combination loser + winner != bigger winner

Packeteers

Premium Member

join:2005-06-18

Forest Hills, NY ·Verizon FiOS

·Charter

Asus RT-AC3100

(Software) Asuswrt-Merlin

9 recommendations Packeteers Premium Member Deutsche Telekom should buy Sprint Sprint really needs to be put out of it's misery. it repeats merger rumors to inflate it's stock price so insiders can bail out.

in fact Sprint can't afford to buy anyone, let alone maintain their own system. if DT made a low ball offer to Sprint's board,

they could put Sprint down and fold whatever useful assets Sprint and their subscribers it has left into T-Mobile.

swintec

Premium Member

join:2003-12-19

Alfred, ME 7 recommendations swintec Premium Member Why is this news again? Son says this literally every quarter since somebody asks him about it every quarter, this is nothing new yet it is reported on like it is, every quarter. elca_bond

join:2011-07-23

Orlando, FL 6 recommendations elca_bond Member The moment this happens I'm gone! Me and my six lines would leave t-mobile the second this becomes official, Sprint sucks big time and I'm pretty sure they are going to fuck up t-mobile. Once there are only three carriers expect the prices of wireless to go up, that's exactly what the telcos want. techguru308

join:2016-05-19

Cincinnati, OH 6 recommendations techguru308 Member Merger Makes Sense Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son has made it clear that T Mobile USA Management will run the show not Sprint's. Since T Mobile USA's network is light-years ahead of Sprints Network we can safely say they will be transitioning Sprint Customers off of the CDMA Network onto T Mobile USA's GSM Network. At least T Mobile USA has experience transitioning customers from CDMA to GSM when they bought out Metro PCS. T Mobile USA and Sprint would be able to combine their tower and spectrum assets and become a huge threat to AT&T and Verizon Coverage wise. Considering that wireless carriers will soon have to compete with cable wireless bundles this move makes sense. It would finally put Sprint out of it's misery. Rudeja

join:2016-02-14

Alpharetta, GA 5 recommendations Rudeja Member WTF . NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I left Sprint for T-mobile, and I am very happy, now Sprint wants to buy t-mobile and F#@! things up again. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

obeythelaw

Premium Member

join:2003-04-16

Warren, NJ 4 recommendations obeythelaw Premium Member Either T-Mobile stays or I leave If T-Mobile's head honchos leave so do I if Sprint takes them over. All of the hype about the 600 spectrum auction for T-Mobile will grind to a halt. Hell, I think any upgrades this year would stop too if Spring takes over in any way. Forget about T-Mobile Tuesdays and unlimited data at the current pricing. I'll either back with ATT or I'll try out Verizon. Either way, its a lose lose for customers and a big payout for T-Mobile, DT, Legere, etc. CyberGuy

join:2006-08-21

Colbert, WA 3 recommendations CyberGuy Member Sprint is a joke If I position my hotspot using their service in exactly the right spot, I can sometimes get 3G but mostly just 1x.