Sprint and T-Mobile Merger Back on the Table as SoftBank Agrees to Cede Control of Sprint

[MacRumors]

Sprint parent company SoftBank is prepared to sell Sprint to T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom, reviving a potential merger between the two companies, reports Reuters.

According to unnamed sources that spoke to the site, SoftBank is reportedly frustrated with Sprint's growth in the United States and is ready to surrender control of the company and take a minority stake in T-Mobile.

Back in 2013, before T-Mobile soared in popularity, the situation was reversed. Sprint was prepared to purchase T-Mobile in a deal said to be worth more than $20 billion, but Sprint abandoned its plans in 2014 amid regulatory scrutiny, deciding that it would be too difficult to win approval from regulators.

At the time, U.S. antitrust officials reportedly told Sprint that having four national carriers in the United States was important to maintaining a competitive market. AT&T also once attempted to purchase T-Mobile, but that deal fell through too after being blocked by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.

Given T-Mobile's recent success, Deutsche Telekom is no longer interested in selling the company, leaving SoftBank to pursue another merger strategy.

Sprint and T-Mobile will likely face the same regulatory scrutiny if a potential purchase deal is reached between the two.

Investors have said a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, ranked third and fourth respectively, would still face antitrust challenges, but made strategic sense as the industry moves to fifth-generation wireless technology. Carriers will need to spend billions of dollars to upgrade to 5G networks that promise to be 10 times to 100 times faster than current speeds.

While SoftBank is still open to discussing other options, it is now willing to surrender control of Sprint and retain a minority stake in a merger with T-Mobile, the sources said. They asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.

The two companies have not yet started to discuss a deal because of strict anti-collusion rules that are in place during an ongoing spectrum auction. The auction, which is being overseen by the FCC, ends on March 30, and negotiations are expected to begin at that time.

Article Link: Sprint and T-Mobile Merger Back on the Table as SoftBank Agrees to Cede Control of Sprint

 

[Oldfash33]

As long as Legere is at the helm

 

[zorinlynx]

How about no? The past few years have shown how good it is that we've had lots of competition between wireless carriers. We need MORE competition, not less.

The most recent example is everyone offering unlimited plans again right after Verizon decided to do so.

 

[stars_fan]

Merging two bad networks sounds like a wonderful idea.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I hate Sprint, but this acquisition will increase T-Mobile's coverage.

 

[budselectjr]

Merging two bad networks sounds like a wonderful idea.

My local T-Mobile network is great. Another comment from someone who isn't an customer.

 

[wwetech]

I say go for it. I hope it goes through this time. Sprint is dying anyways and barely trying to survive against the other top 3. Maybe T-Mobile buying out Sprint will give Deutsche Telekom the edge to give AT&T and Verizon a run for their money.

 

[Plutonius]

Merging two bad networks sounds like a wonderful idea.

Maybe if they combine the companies, people would actually get coverage .

 

[KPOM]

Surprised this isn't in the political threads. Although there is technically a Republican in the White House, Trump seems very skeptical about big mergers. I don't see this happening.

 

[Plutonius]

I say go for it. I hope it goes through this time. Sprint is dying anyways and barely trying to survive against the other top 3. Maybe T-Mobile buying out Sprint will give Deutsche Telekom the edge to give AT&T and Verizon a run for their money.

Buying Sprint will cost money and T-Mobile will probably have to raise prices / slow network upgrades. Do you really want to pay more for your T-Mobile ?

 

[Michael Goff]

My local T-Mobile network is great. Another comment from someone who isn't an customer.

Good for you. But so many people can't get TMo coverage.

 

[Dominicanyor]

Merging two bad networks sounds like a wonderful idea.

Is not going to be a bad idea at all. Think about it. Both companies are going to take over the cellular industry. Especially now when many people are switching to T- mobile because of their new cellphone plans. Also. T-mobile network are getting better.

 

[wwetech]

Everyone saying more competition is better. I agree. T-Mobile has shown over and over that they are ready to compete. Buying Sprint will only make them stronger at what they do. No one can say for sure if they will continue to push the market for consumers to get more for what they pay for, or start getting greedy and raise their costs. We won't know unless we let the merger happen and that's why I'm saying they should go for it. The market will settle itself out because even today the most competition is between 3 carriers.

 

[cheff114]

Merging two bad networks sounds like a wonderful idea.

Maybe if they combine the companies, people would actually get coverage .

This may have been the case many years ago, but things have improved a lot with T-Mobile since. To their credit they invested the money from the failed AT&T acquisition into their network, plus picked up a bunch of 700 MHz spectrum. I've had them for a few years and have had good coverage traveling all over the country. I just hope a merger won't affect their competitive plans.

 

[2010mini]

Merging two bad networks sounds like a wonderful idea.

T-Mobile is way better than you think.

 

[jgelin]

As long as TMO is able to keep its management structure in place and Legere as CEO, it could turn out amazing.
I love my cellphone company and the rate too, that's not something many people say with 5 lines and unlimited data too often on other networks.

 

[MysteryMii215]

SoftBank should just sell Sprint to a different company (like Dish) instead of trying to merge Sprint with T-Mobile.

 

[DrewDaHilp1]

I remember when I had Nextel, which was decent service, PTT was the thing. Sprint bought Nextel, service went to the toilet and I switched over to Verizon. So I guess what I am saying is if there's a way T-Mobile could get worse, it would be by being bought by Sprint.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Isn't Sprint CDMA whereas T-Mobile is GSM? Seems that this would only be an acquisition of customer base and the Sprint hardware would need to be phased out as customers migrate to GSM devices (or compatible) devices over time.

 

[jmcgeejr]

T-Mobile is way better than you think.

I agree, I travel all over the country and my wife has her phone through work on ATT and I am on tmobile, we both always have coverage. Maybe out in the sticks it's not as good as maybe verizon in some areas but for a % of population coverage I would say TMO is within 1-2% of the big players.

 

[wwetech]

Buying Sprint will cost money and T-Mobile will probably have to raise prices / slow network upgrades. Do you really want to pay more for your T-Mobile ?

I agree with what you are saying, but without the merger, T-Mobile is still the spending lots on improving their coverage. Aquiring Sprint will help with their coverage issues and in the end will actually make them stronger to compete against AT&T and Verizon. The thing is no matter what there will be competition and consumers will go to the best bang for their buck and that's how he market will be controlled. Although you may be right, I think this merger will be more beneficial than having negative consequences.

 

[bibigon]

Surprised this isn't in the political threads. Although there is technically a Republican in the White House, Trump seems very skeptical about big mergers. I don't see this happening.

Trump has been skeptical of AT&T buying Time Warner, because he doesn't like that CNN is mean to him. He hasn't been skeptical of other big mergers to my knowledge.

Consensus in antitrust circles is that Trump will appoint very pro-merger antitrust enforcers. He is widely believed to have already offered the job of Assistant Attorney General for antitrust to Josh Wright, who wrote this piece a week after Trump's election about the virtues of having only two or three competitors in some industries (Wright is believed to have passed on the job for now, but that's the kind of direction Trump is looking to go).

 

[Technarchy]

How about no? The past few years have shown how good it is that we've had lots of competition between wireless carriers. We need MORE competition, not less.

The most recent example is everyone offering unlimited plans again right after Verizon decided to do so.

Is Sprint competing at this point?
[doublepost=1487363642][/doublepost]

Isn't Sprint CDMA whereas T-Mobile is GSM? Seems that this would only be an acquisition of customer base and the Sprint hardware would need to be phased out as customers migrate to GSM devices (or compatible) devices over time.

Sprint would probably be dismantled. The brand is toxic and associated with crap service. T-Mobile could eat Sprints coverage, spectrum and footprint and instantly be a national powerhouse that can completely change the game.

 

[genzai]

Normally, i would be against any sort of merger like this since the competitive landscape is already so narrow in wireless. But Sprint has been such a train wreck the last few years, and T-Mobile has been such a rock star of positive disruption, that i think this could be a net benefit to everyone. Sprint customers could get all the great perks and extended network of t-mobile, t-mobile would presumably eventually be able to reallocate sprint spectrum to make their network much stronger, and combined it would be a competitor closer to the size of the perpetually abusive AT&T and Verizon. I think this would be a good move.

g\

 

[Zaft]

Is Sprint competing at this point?
[doublepost=1487363642][/doublepost]

Sprint would probably be dismantled. The brand is toxic and associated with crap service. T-Mobile could eat Sprints coverage, spectrum and footprint and instantly be a national powerhouse that can completely change the game.

They are getting better every year, a merger with Tmobile makes sense. Legere said it himself not long ago.