Would a combined AT&T/T-Mobile consume prepaid carriers?

As if this title weren’t provocative enough — AT&T/T-Mobile merger could put Sprint out of business — it actually undersells the opinions set forth in the post. Boy Genius Report picked up an item from analysis firm Chitika Insights, in which the latter claims that a merged AT&T and T-Mobile could wipe out carriers such as MetroPCS. The combined company, Chitika explains, would cover 51 percent of mobile subscribers, though they do neglect to mention that possible divestitures would probably knock that below the majority point. But all it takes is a few defections to bring them back over, and once a single company has the majority it can call the shots.
 
There’s enough at stake here that I still believe that the merger will go through. That could create an interesting, though possibly destructive, mobile industry in the next few years.