CNBC can confirm reports that Sprint and T-Mobile have restarted deal talks, according to sources.

Shares of Sprint surged more than 20 percent Tuesday after it was reported that the telecom company has resumed merger talks with industry peer T-Mobile.

The stock was halted twice in the 20 minutes following the report and jumped as much as 25 percent. Shares of T-Mobile were up nearly 7 percent immediately following the report.

It's the latest update in an ongoing merger attempt for the companies. The companies ended talks in November, saying they couldn't reach a deal. The companies were not immediately available to comment on Tuesday's reports of revived talks.

Talks have been complicated in the past by tensions between German company Deutsche Telekom, which owns 63 percent of T-Mobile, and Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank, which holds 85 percent of Sprint.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that merger talks had resumed. The latest negotiations are still in the preliminary stages, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources. Reuters later confirmed the revived talks.

T-Mobile and Sprint are the country's third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers, respectively, but lag significantly behind industry leaders AT&T and Verizon. A tie-up would lend each company the scale necessary to compete.

The combined company would also likely consolidate cell towers, sending cell tower stocks Crown Castle International and American Tower down roughly 4 percent each following the report.

— CNBC's David Faber contributed to this report.