For what must be at least the third time, rumors abound that Sprint and T-Mobile may merge into one giant telecom corporation. A new article by Reuters has people abuzz as it stated that SoftBank (the company that owns Sprint) still has some interest in the deal with was abandoned in 2011 and then again in 2014. According to the article, neither SoftBank nor Deutsche Telekom (the owner of T-Mobile) have met to discuss any deal as the annual airwave auction is still going on at the moment. At the end of April, sources suggest that the two companies may meet to discuss the possible merger. Rumors are circulating that SoftBank is so keen on the deal that it has indicated it would be willing to give up control of Sprint to T-Mobile in order to secure some sort of agreement. With the way that Sprint has been struggling along recently, I can’t say that this is really a surprise move or that SoftBank is really giving up all that much. However, what all of the articles don’t really touch on is that the issue which stopped this same merger more than two years ago is still an issue: that it would lessen the competition in the telecommunications market greatly. Such a deal would have to be approved, and analysts speculate that even under President Trump, such a deal would never be approved. Of course, as the networks all are moving towards upgrading to 5G technology, a merger might help the two smaller companies keep up with the other giants in the ring. Upgrading all of the network (especially for the faltering Sprint) is a pricey concept, and as Verizon and AT&T push forward, it may leave the other two behind and ruin the competitive edge that would spur blocking a merger. In the end, we’ll just have to wait until April and see how things play out. Stay tuned; I’ll be sure to let you know if anything else noteworthy comes out.]]>
