T-Mobile and Sprint 'Close' to Finalizing Merger Deal, John Legere Said to Lead Combined Company

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile and Sprint are said to be "close to agreeing" to terms regarding a deal that would merge the third and fourth largest United States wireless carriers together. People close to the deal told Reuters that Sprint parent company SoftBank would own 40 to 50 percent of the combined company, while T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom will gain the majority stake.

The terms of the deal are expected to be finalized by the end of October, "though talks may still fall through," the two sources said. Previously, U.S. antitrust officials told Sprint that a merger with another wireless carrier would face intense scrutiny because having four major carriers in the U.S. was important to maintaining a competitive market. During those talks a few years ago the situation of the companies was reversed -- since T-Mobile had yet to gain in popularity -- with Sprint seeking to acquire T-Mobile for more than $20 billion.

Now, those concerns are said to come into play again with regulatory scrutiny expected to face any deal between Sprint and T-Mobile "over concerns that the U.S. wireless market is becoming too concentrated."

T-Mobile US Inc is close to agreeing tentative terms on a deal to merge with peer Sprint Corp, people familiar with the matter said, a major breakthrough in efforts to merge the third and fourth largest U.S. wireless carriers.

Once terms are finalized, due diligence by the two companies will follow and a deal is expected by the end of October, though talks may still fall through, the sources said.

If the merger happens, the resulting company would have revenues topping $70 billion and more than 130 million subscribers, falling in line behind the two other major U.S. carriers -- Verizon and AT&T -- in terms of subscribers.

The combined company would be led by T-Mobile CEO John Legere, according to the sources, thanks to T-Mobile outperforming Sprint under his leadership. The new company would also undertake a "massive" effort to cut costs early on.

Article Link: T-Mobile and Sprint 'Close' to Finalizing Merger Deal, John Legere Said to Lead Combined Company

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

I knew John was too good to be true :/ all part of the ‘plan’
[doublepost=1506086307][/doublepost]BAD for business.
Less competition = more expensive plans.

 

[Pyrhonen]

Yaaas gawd! I'm a happy Sprint customer but I'm always tempted by T-Mobile deals such as free netflix. Hope they bring some of that when they merg companies.

 

[penajmz]

Are they going to form a super, mega horrible network?

 

[Greenlee]

Will John Legere still wear magenta t-shirts after the merger??

 

[_Refurbished_]

Bad for business, good for T-Mobile customers. All of their towers and spectrum would be a great thing to have.

 

[dominiongamma]

Will John Legere still wear magenta t-shirts after the merger??

Probably, T-Mobile’s brand will stay the same under his leadership I’m assuming, they yet to explain cdma and gsm combining

 

[_Refurbished_]

Are they going to form a super, mega horrible network?

Currently driving from NY to Georgia as I type this. I haven’t lost LTE once on my T-Mobile iPhone 7.

 

[yanksfan114]

Currently driving from NY to Georgia as I type this. I haven’t lost LTE once.

Anecdotes are fun and all, but Sprint has always been easily the worst network. T-Mobile used to be pretty poor but I’ll admit they’ve been catching up, and even surpassing, some of the big guys lately in terms of performance.

 

[djeeyore25]

I'm fine with any merger T-Mobile makes as long as I can still get free magenta beach towels.

 

[Swuycheck]

I’m torn... as a tmobile customer, I want the sprint towers/spectrum coverted to tmobile, but it is nice having 4 players vs 3 players that all look the same... time will tell if this even gets gov approval.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Anecdotes are fun and all, but Sprint has always been easily the worst network. T-Mobile used to be pretty poor but I’ll admit they’ve been catching up, and even surpassing, some of the big guys lately in terms of performance.

I also drove cross country last month without issue. I’m on T-Mobile, not Sprint. Forgot to clarify. Been throughout most of the country without issue.

I hear the upper Midwest is bad. Haven’t travelled there. In any case, this is being fixed with their 600hz spectrum.

 

[convergent]

Probably, T-Mobile’s brand will stay the same under his leadership I’m assuming, they yet to explain cdma and gsm combining

Isn't that more of a legacy phone issue? I thought that everything new converged on LTE anyway. If I'm correct, then the issue would only apply to older pre-LTE phones... several years older, so those would not benefit from the combined spectrum.

 

[BruiserB]

I’m cool with this as long as it’s T-mobile branded, Legere led, and keeps the Uncarrier mentality. Sprint is dying anyway.

I’d be tempted to sign up for one of those Sprint promotions where they are giving away service if it was known that they’d be getting access to T-Mobile spectrum soon. But reality is that it will probably take a long time to merge networks.

 

[dominiongamma]

I’m torn... as a tmobile customer, I want the sprint towers/spectrum coverted to tmobile, but it is nice having 4 players vs 3 players that all look the same... time will tell if this even gets gov approval.

Same here but let’s see if the gov approves of it because att didn’t suceeed with the merger

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Will John Legere still wear magenta t-shirts after the merger??

He only does that stuff as an act. He said so in a recent Fast Company article. He's really a suit-wearing business man just like the rest.
[doublepost=1506088533][/doublepost]

I’m cool with this as long as it’s T-mobile branded, Legere led, and keeps the Uncarrier mentality. Sprint is dying anyway.

I’d be tempted to sign up for one of those Sprint promotions where they are giving away service if it was known that they’d be getting access to T-Mobile spectrum soon. But reality is that it will probably take a long time to merge networks.

AHahahahahahahahaahahahah! Those things are never going to happen. Legere has said he's looking to make the transition back to his more traditional roots of business. T-Mobile isn't profitable enough at this point.

They're currently bleeding money with promotions in order to gain customers but are making far less per customer than other providers. That can't continue forever. They'll be raising their prices once they get a good customer base.

 

[Princejb134]

Currently driving from NY to Georgia as I type this. I haven’t lost LTE once on my T-Mobile iPhone 7.

Driving and texting is bad a

Currently driving from NY to Georgia as I type this. I haven’t lost LTE once on my T-Mobile iPhone 7.

dont drive and text kids. It can kill you

 

[mlabonte21]

Not surprising.

If you've watched any of Legere's recent videos over the past few months he only targets AT&T/Verizon.

Granted they are the biggest fish and have the most desirable customers, but he never even includes Sprint on graphs for comparsions sake.

Plus with the Republican-controlled FCC rubberstamping mergers left & right---I think this is actually going to happen.

 

[Zaft]

On one hand I believe more competition is better, but on the other hand I'm on Sprint and would like to be part of T mobile.

Not sure this will pass the regulators. The best example they would use is TMO itself that was almost bought by ATT.

 

[macduke]

I'm really conflicted about this one. On the one hand, I think more competition in the marketplace is better. On the other hand, it's quite likely that Sprint will go under in a few years. If the latter is the case, I'd rather T-Mobile scoop them up now than having their towers and infrastructure auctioned off to the big two. T-Mobile has been really instrumental in keeping the big two in check, but I can't help but think they'll become more like the big two if they suddenly are in the big two. As it so often happens, the top dog gets really greedy. Either way, the regulatory climate in the U.S. right now is probably a lot more favorable towards approving mergers like this than they were a few years ago, so anything could happen.

 

[NIKKG]

Please don't do it, this will suck. I hope the government blocks them. All prices will start to rise.

 

[5105973]

Please don't do it, this will suck. I hope the government blocks them. All prices will start to rise.

START to rise? Goodness please tell me AT&T can't get more expensive at a faster rate.

 

[Codyak]

Super happy with T-Mobile. I was at my house in Davis WV last weekend and I had coverage when my GF/her parents on Verizon had nada.

 

[dannyyankou]

Driving and texting is bad a

dont drive and text kids. It can kill you

It’s a long drive, they’re probably at a rest stop.

 

[macprobuffalo]

This merger would create the potential for a killer network.

Sprint has a massive amount of 2.5ghz spectrum. T-Mobile has a massive amount of 600mhz spectrum.

Combine them and you get very fast data speeds and long range building penetration.