Dish Network Nearing Deal for Boost Mobile as T-Mobile and Sprint Unload Assets for Merger Approval

[avtella]

I agree also. Why is it that the government gets to decide who is the largest carrier and that three major companies isn't allowed. Sprint could simply close it's doors and then there would only be three major networks. What would the government do then? Buy Sprint and become a 4th carrier themselves. Oh wait! They sort of tried that with obamacare crap and we see how that turned out. Higher prices and worse coverage for most people.

That’s like comparing apples to oranges. If you want healthcare, here is one. Just like hospital mergers where they said mergers would create more competitive entities and better care while studies showed the opposite effect where said mergers occurred. The FTC Director of the Bureau of Economics stated that when hospitals merge they face less competition and charge as much 40 to 50 per cent higher prices than if they had not merged or consolidated, and care did not improve. In some instances quality of care actually decreased.

Now coming back to the TMO merger, I doubt there would be any real increase competition. Prices are already going back up on TMO as expected since they made a huge strides over the past few years in coverage and speed. A merger isn’t magically going to drop prices and increase competition, far less incentive to do so infact. Having said that it’s not really a monopoly creating merger so it may happen.

 

[fmenard]

T-Mobile has grown a ton, by no means some third rate carrier as you make it seem. Tons of low band spectrum and with the 700 MHz rollout coverage has improved significantly over the past 5 years. It’s not going to foster more competition by reducing to three carriers. TMO for one is slowly raising rates already as expected by their growth. They got the greatest share of the 600 MHz band as well in auction, if anything they’re pretty competitive with the other two top ones in most places.

Right now I pay $130 after taxes for 4 lines and international calling (Global, not just Mexico and Canada) (all lines) as part of my grandfathered T-Mobile Simple Choice plan from 2014. LTE to 4GB then 2G for unlimited on all lines. They’ve gotten really far in terms of coverage and speeds since then so they have upped the pricing of plans for newcomers.

[doublepost=1560896799][/doublepost]Is 700 mhz an LTE band? It's not listed on any phones as an available GSM band.

 

[avtella]

[doublepost=1560896799][/doublepost]Is 700 mhz an LTE band? It's not listed on any phones as an available GSM band.

Yeah they use 700Mhz (band 12). They gained most of it as part of an agreement that if the AT&T merger failed they’d get some of the spectrum. Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s what I recall regarding the acquisition.

All iPhones starting with the 6S series support LTE Band 12.

 

[punitnaker]

T-Mobile has grown a ton, by no means some third rate carrier as you make it seem. Tons of low band spectrum and with the 700 MHz rollout coverage has improved significantly over the past 5 years. It’s not going to foster more competition by reducing to three carriers. TMO for one is slowly raising rates already as expected by their growth. They got the greatest share of the 600 MHz band as well in auction, if anything they’re pretty competitive with the other two top ones in most places.

Right now I pay $130 after taxes for 4 lines and international calling (Global, not just Mexico and Canada) (all lines) as part of my grandfathered T-Mobile Simple Choice plan from 2014. LTE to 4GB then 2G for unlimited on all lines. They’ve gotten really far in terms of coverage and speeds since then so they have upped the pricing of plans for newcomers.

I love T-mobile! I have a Simple Choice plan and just got a text message today that they are upgrading me to unlimited and I still stay on my same plan!

 

[avtella]

I love T-mobile! I have a Simple Choice plan and just got a text message today that they are upgrading me to unlimited and I still stay on my same plan!

Never leave it lol. Even the reps pretty much say it’s best to stay with it as none of the new plans are better. I actually like that their reps aren’t pushy and in most cases really honest.

I actually got the Buy 1 get $700 Visa card for a second iPhone deal on Simple Choice, the reps temporarily added a line (+~$30-40) for like a month and took it off just so I could get the deal, even though it wasn’t meant for my plan. Best reps I’ve dealt with, aside from Dell.

Also make sure to check ads on’s in the account page on occasion you get great deals like I did with the $10 unlimited international calling for my entire account, rather than per line.

 

[gridlocked]

Dish has a ton of stock piled spectrum though, so there's reasonable chance they could build out their own network over time using that. There also may be a equipment swap deal too where Dish acquired the towers which Tmobile plans to sunset after the merger is complete.

Dish is already going to miss the FCC deadline for a 70% nationwide build out in 2020 for their existing spectrum. The FCC would have to sign off on this to give them several more years time to actually complete a build out.

 

[Michael Scrip]

"Dish" should create a new carrier called "Tower"

 

[jtmarine73]

I think it's a matter of which company will create bigger competition for AT&T and Verizon (and Comcast). T-Mobile in its current form or New T-Mobile with Sprint's spectrum.

While T-Mobile during the "Un-Carrier Era" (2013 to 2017) brought intense price competition and great innovations, that era is sadly gone.

T-Mobile is now more focused on 5G (not just for wireless but for fixed line broadband) and merging with Sprint seems essential. Since 2017, the company hasn't made any efforts toward lowering prices nor launching innovative features. Again, Sprint or not, the "Un-Carrier Era" is sadly gone.

I am not personally convinced that 5G is all that it's crack up to be, but I like the idea of 5G bringing competition to monopolistic fixed line broadband market. If it takes merging with Sprint to accelerate the rollout, then I am all for it.

I completely agree with this. In fact, I recently brought 7 lines over to Verizon from Tmo, after being with them for nearly 12 years. i had a great deal with the military discount, but I'm honestly only paying about $10 month more. I've lately been finding more and more dead spots with T-mobile, which seems really odd. And over the past few months my work apps have been running incredibly slow compared to someone using the same app on verizon or att. i feel they added too many new customers and not enough towers to handle the demand. I am going to miss some of the perks, like free netflix, but i'm not going to miss the dead spots.

 

[rjp1]

Not sure why people are saying the prices are already going up on T-Mobile. They just lowered my bill for 5 lines for $120/mo and also upgraded them to unlimited data.

On AT&T I was paying around $160 for 2 lines.

If the government feels there needs to be competition and won’t allow this merger then they need to follow through. Break up AT&T and Verizon to companies the size of T-Mobile and Sprint and we will have 6 carriers.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

I just really hope the Sprint/T-Mobile merger doesn't mess up my current deal. Paying $80/month for 2 phones with unlimited data and an Apple Watch. Can't beat it.

I think I have though! Three lines (family) for $80/month unlimited data/text and international. When we imported the lines we all got free iPhone 7’s at the time, too, which was the latest hardware. Crazy deal.

 

[deconstruct60]

Dish is already going to miss the FCC deadline for a 70% nationwide build out in 2020 for their existing spectrum. The FCC would have to sign off on this to give them several more years time to actually complete a build out.

Perhaps Dish can lease most of that spectrum to "new T-mobile " and put their new Boost phones on it.
The terms may be that it is getting productively used, not that have to buy transmitters out of your own pocket.

Similar Dish could move Boost to be more like Google Fi and expand new phones to run on multiple networks. So same "in use" could farm out spectrum to Verizon or AT&T if they want to sign up.

In short, Dish can use their huge stockpile of spectrum as a leverage point to getting better backend deals with the Big-3 ( after merge) build out.

This would put the knife though in the rumblings about maybe Dish merging with DirecTV ( now a part of AT&T) or that's where Dish is getting the money from ( selling off their Satellites and customers ) and jumping 100% in phone biz.

 

[Wide opeN]

Hooray, now let's finalize this and get it behind us.

 

[Chazz08]

Sprint and T-Mobile's combined company, set to be called T-Mobile and led by John Legere, would have close to 100 million customers, putting it second only to Verizon.

This is the second time I've seen this today, and I don't know where y'all are getting your numbers. According to the Q1 2019 numbers, the merged companies would have 135,800,000 subscribers. That's still third compared to AT&T with 155 million and Verizon with 158 million. I tried to search for the term customers to make sure I wasn't missing something, since it says customers and not subscribers, but everywhere else used them interchangeably.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Some of their phones are locked but would otherwise be usable on GSM. If the merger goes through they'll just unlock the phones capable of being used on GSM and ship them sim cards. Those with phones that can't be used on GSM will have to buy new phones, they may or may not have special deals for these people.

...and he people that have Sprint phones that don’t support any (lower) frequencies of T-Mobile will be out of luck. Especially if T-Mobile sunsets some of those bands. Not arguing with you, just stating the facts.

T-Mobile should be required to subsidize new phones that support the combined spectrum - if the merger is approved.

I have Verizon, so there is no personal gain for me either way.
[doublepost=1560916352][/doublepost]

If Sprint \ TMo merger is too big, than why isn't Verizon big enough to split up? Why are they allowed to have their own pre-pay carrier?

Sounds like you answered your own question. Why create another “monopoly”, by approving the merger, if Verizon is too big?

Rest assured, if this merger approved, service will improve with the new T-Mobile, as prices increase to cover the costs of the marriage. My guess is that the prices will increase the day after T-Mobile has guaranteed to keep them the same for. Of course, there’s always the chance of T-Mobile removing services that are now included as a way of getting around “raising prices”.

We’ll just have to wait and see.
[doublepost=1560916905][/doublepost]

Both the CDMA and GSM networks should be considered legacy by now and ideally both carriers run LTE/VoLTE, just like Verizon.

CDMA data (EVDO) tops out at 3 Mbps, so for consumers it's good as dead right now. All of Sprint's consumer data is effectively on LTE. Voice is what's left on CDMA.

T-Mobile is in a good position for pure LTE, however, Sprint only started rolling out VoLTE last year.

It’s as good as dead for consumers using it for their phones. It’s far from dead for consumers that use machine connections.. One example is whole house generators.

Many machine connections are not yet on LTE with Verizon. It was supposed to happen at the end of 2019, but Verizon has extended the deadline to sunset the legacy network. I’m not sure what percentage of customers on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint use the legacy network for that type of communication.
[doublepost=1560917913][/doublepost]

I agree also. Why is it that the government gets to decide who is the largest carrier and that three major companies isn't allowed. Sprint could simply close it's doors and then there would only be three major networks. What would the government do then? Buy Sprint and become a 4th carrier themselves. Oh wait! They sort of tried that with obamacare crap and we see how that turned out. Higher prices and worse coverage for most people.

The government regulates. They are supposed to protect the consumer while fostering competitive business practices. With that said...

If Sprint closed its doors, they would be bankrupt, and their assets sold off to pay down their debt (which apparently they have a LOT of). What’s left would be auctioned off. None of this has anything to do with Obamacare...

If you truly support a real capitalistic society:
Let Sprint go bankrupt, or
Let T-Mobile buy Sprint, or
Let AT&T and Verizon merge, only to buy T-Mobile and sprint, and charge what they like...
Then tell me how much you don’t like government regulation

 

[CarlJ]

My wife and I are on the T-Mobile senior plan...

Apropos of little, the A-26 Invader is a lovely plane.

 

[Spizike9]

I just really hope the Sprint/T-Mobile merger doesn't mess up my current deal. Paying $80/month for 2 phones with unlimited data and an Apple Watch. Can't beat it.

That’s a great deal.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Boost mobile didn’t own any actual towers I thought. This just means they’ll still be another MVNO of Sprint

Having this merger isn't going to make things more competitive. Installing a well-regulated system for all carriers to comply, including reasonable pricing models will be the only way to get reasonable rates. Otherwise, all three will just magically sell plans virtually the same price, all of which will keep increasing as no regulation puts a ceiling on them.

 

[Breaking Good]

"Dish" should create a new carrier called "Tower"

I assume they would call it “Spoon”.

 

[mytdave]

T-Mobile has grown a ton, by no means some third rate carrier as you make it seem. Tons of low band spectrum and with the 700 MHz rollout coverage has improved significantly over the past 5 years. It’s not going to foster more competition by reducing to three carriers. TMO for one is slowly raising rates already as expected by their growth. They got the greatest share of the 600 MHz band as well in auction, if anything they’re pretty competitive with the other two top ones in most places.

Right now I pay $130 after taxes for 4 lines and international calling (Global, not just Mexico and Canada) (all lines) as part of my grandfathered T-Mobile Simple Choice plan from 2014. LTE to 4GB then 2G for unlimited on all lines. They’ve gotten really far in terms of coverage and speeds since then so they have upped the pricing of plans for newcomers.

Sure, but it's not just about spectrum ownership. T-Mobile has less coverage and a lot fewer customers than either AT&T or Version. Sprint has even less. A T-Mobile & Sprint merger is the perfect marriage (as corporate mergers go).

 

[nburwell]

I just really hope the Sprint/T-Mobile merger doesn't mess up my current deal. Paying $80/month for 2 phones with unlimited data and an Apple Watch. Can't beat it.

That's my main concern. As long as the merger does impact my current deal with T-Mobile, then go right ahead.

 

[WWPD]

I just really hope the Sprint/T-Mobile merger doesn't mess up my current deal. Paying $80/month for 2 phones with unlimited data and an Apple Watch. Can't beat it.

Mind me asking how? I'm on T-Mobile One and pay $100 for just two phones.

 

[avtella]

Sure, but it's not just about spectrum ownership. T-Mobile has less coverage and a lot fewer customers than either AT&T or Version. Sprint has even less. A T-Mobile & Sprint merger is the perfect marriage (as corporate mergers go).

I mean I definitely agree it makes sense from a corporate and share holder standpoint as it will allow them to increase pricing as well, and so conversely not so good from a consumer point of view. Shares have done pretty well since at least 2014 when I wanted to invest as I expected the company to make a great strides.

 

[boswald]

Absolutely no plans to switch to T-Mobile, but I applaud them for trying to merge. I thought Sprint was dead for years.

 

[RobNYC]

Mind me asking how? I'm on T-Mobile One and pay $100 for just two phones.

I'm going to guess they signed up when T-Mobile was offering a deal? I currently have four lines and an Apple Watch on T-Mobile and it totals $150. I signed up my parents and brother to my plan back in Nov when they were offering four lines for $35 (which is normally $40 per line with 4 lines). The apple watch is an extra $10.

 

[Chazz08]

I mean I definitely agree it makes sense from a corporate and share holder standpoint as it will allow them to increase pricing as well, and so conversely not so good from a consumer point of view. Shares have done pretty well since at least 2014 when I wanted to invest as I expected the company to make a great strides.

I don't think prices will go up as much as people think. Despite what this article says, T-Mobile will still be third in size. They won't pass up AT&T in terms of customers. If the merger does happen, they'd still have 30 million less subscribers than AT&T, so if they want to continue to snatch up market share, then the prices will most likely still be lower. Maybe not forever, but I'd suspect at least the first several years.