T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Expected to Receive Final Approval Tomorrow

[MacRumors]

A judge overseeing a lawsuit aiming to stop the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is planning to rule in favor of allowing the deal to go forward, reports The New York Times.

The FCC formally approved the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint in November 2019, but attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia filed an antitrust lawsuit aiming to block it. The states argued that combining the two companies was not in the public's interest as it would reduce competition and lead to higher smartphone bills.

Final arguments in the antitrust suit took place last month, and sources that spoke to The New York Times said that none of the parties involved have read the judge's ruling yet, so there could be conditions or restrictions attached.

Both Sprint and T-Mobile are planning to make announcements related to the merger on Tuesday, as the lawsuit was the final roadblock preventing it from moving forward. If the judge does indeed rule in favor of Sprint and T-Mobile, the newly combined company will be known as T-Mobile and it will have 100 million customers.

The two companies have committed to building a nationwide 5G network covering 97 percent of the U.S. population in three years and 99 percent within six years. They have also promised not to raise their prices for three years following the merger's completion.

Under the terms of the deal, both T-Mobile and Sprint were required to sell some of their assets to Dish, as the FCC wants to see Dish become the fourth nationwide facilities-based wireless carrier in the United States.

Article Link: T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Expected to Receive Final Approval Tomorrow

 

[fmcshan]

I can see where the antitrust lawsuit is coming from, but the merger will hopefully help boost 5G coverage across the US. It's also nice that the two companies have promised not to raise their prices for three years. We're just seven months away from our first 5G iPhone?

 

[JosephAW]

I wonder how that will affect contracts? Just changed to new one recently.

 

[travis64]

Time to buy sprint stock
Nvm already up 70%

 

[TTTedP]

Time to buy sprint stock
Nvm already up 70%

I'm in it below $4 🥳

 

[Mdracer]

Subscribed to see how this pans out. Hopefully for the better. T-Mobile needs a good boost.

 

[Babu Life]

hopefully that sprint and t mobile bands get together and speed up the internet

 

[glowplug]

I can see where the antitrust lawsuit is coming from, but the merger will ultimately help boost 5G coverage

But it won’t. This is what merger proponents claim but it never ever happens. See The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age by Tim Wu.

 

[Coryincali]

Are you ready to become Comcast customers.....

Once this goes through, Comcast will come in and buy up T-Mobile.

Very Sad...

 

[oneMadRssn]

It's also nice that the two companies have promised not to raise their prices for three years.

Hasn't the long trail of broken promises used to secure merger approval jaded us to this kind of thinking?

Whatever they promise will almost surely not be honored in the way we consumers expect. "Oh we didn't raise prices, it's a new convenience fee."

 

[GreenPixel]

I'm in it below $4 ?

I got in a bit above $4.50 on average. I was buying it up as it was doing its last dip. Pretty pleased with it now.

 

[CJ Dorschel]

But it won’t. This is what merger proponents claim but it never ever happens. See The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age by Tim Wu.

Exactly. One example that burns me to this day:

The Time Warner/Spectrum merger. I remember being in touch with friends who worked at Time Warner for the two year period between the announcement and finalization and plan roll outs that came in Feb/March 2017. I kept every document sent from Time Warner promising plans would be lower, bills simplified, faster speeds, and records of all communications on how my plans would change for the better etc etc. and was in regular touch with my friends who worked in corp as I wanted to take advantage of the faster internet speeds and the plans they initially intended to roll out. I have a home in Pittsford (Rochester) NY which locked out other cable providers besides Time Warner as Rochester Tele/Frontier and Monroe County had a "deal". No one could lay new lies down which meant satellite or DSL where the only other options. Greenlight Networks found a way around it by going door to door over the past few years which bypassed stipulations but in order to get the service your neighborhood has to pass the 60% demand threshold for Greenlight to lay down new lines so there are parts that aren't getting service years later while a neighborhood right next to me has had it for years.

Then February 2017 comes and Spectrum announces a delay. Turns out they got tipped off from Ajit in the FCC that the administration was deregulating the telecom industry for "national security" which really gave them the green light to increase prices esp in markets where there was no competition. Now ~75% of the US internet/cable market is owned by one large conglomerate. Gone are the days of renewing contracts every 12 months through the retention dept as they don't bother working with longtime customers since they know there aren't better alternatives unless you cut the cord yet that's just cable and most don't know how or want to be bothered. My monthly for 350/30Mbps, silver tier cable tv, and phone is $287 and if you try to remove any one of the three it goes up in price as they want people on their package plans.

Longterm the same thing will happen with Sprint and t-Mobile Stateside. Another Ma Bell with promises they won't keep. It's all about the Benjamins.

 

[windowsblowsass]

Exactly. One example that burns me to this day:

The Time Warner/Spectrum merger. I remember being in touch with friends who worked at Time Warner for the two year period between the announcement and finalization and plan roll outs that came in Feb/March 2017. I kept every document sent from Time Warner promising plans would be lower, bills simplified, faster speeds, and records of all communications on how my plans would change for the better etc etc. and was in regular touch with my friends who worked in corp as I wanted to take advantage of the faster internet speeds and the plans they initially intended to roll out. I have a home in Pittsford (Rochester) NY which locked out other cable providers besides Time Warner as Rochester Tele/Frontier and Monroe County had a "deal". No one could lay new lies down which meant satellite or DSL where the only other options. Greenlight Networks found a way around it by going door to door over the past few years which bypassed stipulations but in order to get the service your neighborhood has to pass the 60% demand threshold for Greenlight to lay down new lines so there are parts that aren't getting service years later while a neighborhood right next to me has had it for years.

Then February 2017 comes and Spectrum announces a delay. Turns out they got tipped off from Ajit in the FCC that the administration was deregulating the telecom industry for "national security" which really gave them the green light to increase prices esp in markets where there was no competition. Now ~75% of the US internet/cable market is owned by one large conglomerate. Gone are the days of renewing contracts every 12 months through the retention dept as they don't bother working with longtime customers since they know there aren't better alternatives unless you cut the cord yet that's just cable and most don't know how or want to be bothered. My monthly for 350/30Mbps, silver tier cable tv, and phone is $287 and if you try to remove any one of the three it goes up in price as they want people on their package plans.

Longterm the same thing will happen with Sprint and t-Mobile Stateside. Another Ma Bell with promises they won't keep. It's all about the Benjamins.

Two things here 1. The time Warner spectrum deal only occurred because the DOJ threatened Comcast With antitrust if they completed the acquisition. I don’t know how your friends would be able to talk about time Warner spectrum for 2 year when it was thrown together over a few months after the Comcast deal was put on ice.

The biggest thing with T Sprint is the state of sprint. If sprint isn’t acquire by T Mo sprint will die in a few years the spectrum and infrastructure will be bought up by ATT/VZW who will have a duopoly with T Mo a distant third. Three competitors are better than two which is the case for this merger. Also they are for sure lying about no price increases.

 

[cbusbuck]

I can see where the antitrust lawsuit is coming from, but the merger will ultimately help boost 5G coverage across the US.

Oh you're a funny guy.

 

[msp3]

Based judge. Democrat hack and shills AGs bought and paid for by ATT/Verizon BTFO, how will they ever recover?

 

[jwolf6589]

I sure hope this does not mean I need to buy a new phone because I wont be doing it. I am happy with the XR and plan to keep it for a while.

 

[CJ Dorschel]

Two things here 1. The time Warner spectrum deal only occurred because the DOJ threatened Comcast With antitrust if they completed the acquisition. I don’t know how your friends would be able to talk about time Warner spectrum for 2 year when it was thrown together over a few months after the Comcast deal was put on ice.

The biggest thing with T Sprint is the state of sprint. If sprint isn’t acquire by T Mo sprint will die in a few years the spectrum and infrastructure will be bought up by ATT/VZW who will have a duopoly with T Mo a distant third. Three competitors are better than two which is the case for this merger. Also they are for sure lying about no price increases.

Unfortunately that's not exactly how it happened. A "deal" was being worked on for close to two years as my friends in corp were aware of it before it ever went public. It wasn't "thrown together", Charter and Time Warner were working on their own corp merger as the Comcast deal was ongoing. In effect, TW was working on two deals, bargaining and working on a backup deal in case Comcast fell through which they knew it had a snowballs chance. Plus Charter had more market coverage and that was their true intention. Having Comcast fail with Charter being a sure thing was smart business planning while their whale came off to the public and FCC, etc as a last minute joint venture and not the true market behemoth they desired and became.

Agree. Sprint is a disaster but don't kid yourself. When John Legere has been staying at Trump properties in DC meeting with the FCC and Sprint there's a lot the public doesn't know. Having been a field agent for 10+ years then head of a joint cyber task with BND, working in CIA with NSA and telecom - well, that's a whole other topic. Sprint is not nearly in the shape some claim. That's pure marketing to boost confidence in consumers that this merger is good for them. It may be for some but it's not for the US in general. Even if Sprint merged with one of the other two, t-Mobile was going no where and their coverage was improving rapidly over the past few years as Deutsche Telekom was investing heavily in the US market. t-Mobile would have been fine on their own, Sprint had the most to gain out of all of them. I'd rather have Sprint merge with VZW or ATT if a merger were to happen but AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM carriers, while Sprint and Verizon are CDMA carriers with Sprint and t-Mobile requiring less capital to make it work. In the end, less competition is rarely beneficial long term. Again, Ma Bell.

Lastly, MetroPCS, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile are also merging with Sprint and t-Mobile.

A decent piece that covers many of these issues:

What a combined T-Mobile and Sprint would look like

 

[Wide opeN]

Can't tell you how happy I am this saga is coming to an end!!!

?????????????????

 

[Don909]

I have been a Sprint customer many years - this is great news for Sprint and me. I have been happy with Sprint (I get Tidal and Amazon Prime in my package). I hope that does not change.

 

[kinless]

I have been a Sprint customer many years - this is great news for Sprint and me. I have been happy with Sprint (I get Tidal and Amazon Prime in my package). I hope that does not change.

Same here, in fact it'll be 20 years for me in April. Of course I always stuck with Sprint more due to cheap pricing than service reliability. Even where I live now I can't get signal without their Airave booster, but there are T-Mo cell towers going up right next to me, so I'll be looking forward to allegedly decent service.

 

[PC_tech]

Unfortunately that's not exactly how it happened. A "deal" was being worked on for close to two years as my friends in corp were aware of it before it ever went public. It wasn't "thrown together", Charter and Time Warner were working on their own corp merger as the Comcast deal was ongoing. In effect, TW was working on two deals, bargaining and working on a backup deal in case Comcast fell through which they knew it had a snowballs chance. Plus Charter had more market coverage and that was their true intention. Having Comcast fail with Charter being a sure thing was smart business planning while their whale came off to the public and FCC, etc as a last minute joint venture and not the true market behemoth they desired and became.

Agree. Sprint is a disaster but don't kid yourself. When John Legere has been staying at Trump properties in DC meeting with the FCC and Sprint there's a lot the public doesn't know. Having been a field agent for 10+ years then head of a joint cyber task with BND, working in CIA with NSA and telecom - well, that's a whole other topic. Sprint is not nearly in the shape some claim. That's pure marketing to boost confidence in consumers that this merger is good for them. It may be for some but it's not for the US in general. Even if Sprint merged with one of the other two, t-Mobile was going no where and their coverage was improving rapidly over the past few years as Deutsche Telekom was investing heavily in the US market. t-Mobile would have been fine on their own, Sprint had the most to gain out of all of them. I'd rather have Sprint merge with VZW or ATT if a merger were to happen but AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM carriers, while Sprint and Verizon are CDMA carriers with Sprint and t-Mobile requiring less capital to make it work. In the end, less competition is rarely beneficial long term. Again, Ma Bell.

Lastly, MetroPCS, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile are also merging with Sprint and t-Mobile.

A decent piece that covers many of these issues:

What a combined T-Mobile and Sprint would look like

Metro is already owned by TMobile and Boost is Sprint. Have been for years.

 

[sirghost]

Unfortunately that's not exactly how it happened. A "deal" was being worked on for close to two years as my friends in corp were aware of it before it ever went public. It wasn't "thrown together", Charter and Time Warner were working on their own corp merger as the Comcast deal was ongoing. In effect, TW was working on two deals, bargaining and working on a backup deal in case Comcast fell through which they knew it had a snowballs chance. Plus Charter had more market coverage and that was their true intention. Having Comcast fail with Charter being a sure thing was smart business planning while their whale came off to the public and FCC, etc as a last minute joint venture and not the true market behemoth they desired and became.

Agree. Sprint is a disaster but don't kid yourself. When John Legere has been staying at Trump properties in DC meeting with the FCC and Sprint there's a lot the public doesn't know. Having been a field agent for 10+ years then head of a joint cyber task with BND, working in CIA with NSA and telecom - well, that's a whole other topic. Sprint is not nearly in the shape some claim. That's pure marketing to boost confidence in consumers that this merger is good for them. It may be for some but it's not for the US in general. Even if Sprint merged with one of the other two, t-Mobile was going no where and their coverage was improving rapidly over the past few years as Deutsche Telekom was investing heavily in the US market. t-Mobile would have been fine on their own, Sprint had the most to gain out of all of them. I'd rather have Sprint merge with VZW or ATT if a merger were to happen but AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM carriers, while Sprint and Verizon are CDMA carriers with Sprint and t-Mobile requiring less capital to make it work. In the end, less competition is rarely beneficial long term. Again, Ma Bell.

Lastly, MetroPCS, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile are also merging with Sprint and t-Mobile.

A decent piece that covers many of these issues:

What a combined T-Mobile and Sprint would look like

You’re article is out of date. Metro is already t-mobile, boost is being sold to dish, and virgin is shut down and rolled into boost.

source for the virgin mobile shut down here.

source for dish buying boot is the merger goes thru is here.
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I sure hope this does not mean I need to buy a new phone because I wont be doing it. I am happy with the XR and plan to keep it for a while.

Your iPhone XR will be fine as Apple only sells one model that works on all the carriers in the US.

 

[kyleh22]

Wonder how much prices will go up in 3 years....

 

[sirghost]

Wonder how much prices will go up in 3 years....

Probably same as at&t and Verizon, or maybe just under what they charge.

No one knows, and if anyone says otherwise are simply speculating without hard evidence.

 

[sw1tcher]

Subscribed to see how this pans out. Hopefully for the better. T-Mobile needs a good boost.

Boost (Mobile) is going to get sold to Dish Network if merger gets approved. So no Boost for T-Mobile.
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Probably same as at&t and Verizon, or maybe just under what they charge.

No one knows, and if anyone says otherwise are simply speculating without hard evidence.

With John Legere stepping down at the end of April 2020, I fear the new T-Mobile will not be the disrupting trailblazer of old. They'll start by laying off hundreds if not thousands of jobs. Then after 3 years, prices will rise and plans will change in their favor.