It’s been a hot topic in the news the last few months, as rumors continue to pour onto the internet that T-Mobile and Sprint are looking to possibly merge as a strategic move to better compete with AT&T and Verizon. Both networks have assets the other can use to get a large step ahead, especially in the numbers game when it comes to total subscribers (and Sprint needs a lot of help staying on their feet at the moment). Will it happen though?
Both companies have indeed been in talks with each other and they have been throwing ideas back and forth for quite a long time actually (it isn’t like this popped up out of nowhere a month or two ago). The latest is that they may finally come to a full agreement by the end of this month, when they decide to finally come out with it. Both sides seem to be pretty positive about it and each one has little birdies that sneak information over to our (and others) ears about how excited things are beginning to look.
However getting the regulators to agree with their big plans may not be as easy, as it will greatly tighten the circle of competition–bringing it down to only three major companies dominating the nation. In the past, regulators have been strictly against a merger between any of the four giants. Just look at what happened with AT&T when they gave it a try back in 2011 with T-Mobile and it was shut down as they wouldn’t have it. So it comes down to what makes T-Mobile and Sprint so different? The fact that the merger would create subscriber numbers that are more comparable to those of the other two vs greatly shadowing them? The fact that Sprint is hurting financially and this could be a solution to help whip them back into shape? Or maybe they lined the pockets of decision makers with more cash than AT&T had? (had to throw something like that in somewhere)
If it does pan out to be a reality, then these questions will soon turn towards asking about how this will affect the current customers are both networks. Sprint bring CDMA and T-Mobile being GSM, it will be interesting to see how resources are shared between the two. Could mean a great deal for customers who have phones with dual radio support if it creates a network solution similar to Google’s Fi service.
Regardless, if all the rumors pan out, it seems we may have an answer sometime this month or early next. It will be interesting to see what comes out of all of this, or if regulators will drop the ban hammer on the idea completely once again.
