Sprint confirms interest in buying T-Mobile
There have been rumors circulating for months now that Sprint could be interested in buying T-Mobile, but nothing much has come of it. Now, Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son has admitted that the company is interested in purchasing the UNcarrier. The statement came in a TV interview between Son and Charlie Rose, where Son had a few interesting thoughts on the mobile ecosystem.
Specifically, Son said, "We would like to make the deal happen, but there are steps and details that we have to work out." He went on to explain how the deal would allow the number three and number four major wireless carriers in the U.S. to come together and finally be a true competitor to Verizon and AT&T. However, the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have made it clear that such a deal would face quite a bit of regulatory scrutiny.
Son believes it will allow Sprint to be competitive with Verizon and AT&T, but regulatory bodies would worry that having only 3 carriers of roughly the same size would decrease competition and hurt consumers. This is a reasonable worry, especially after seeing the commotion T-Mobile has been making with its UNcarrier plans, and how those changes have led to price wars throughout the industry. But, Son says that the deal would allow Sprint to push a faster network more aggressively and offer better prices to compete with the big two.
We'll have to keep an eye on this. There is no deal right now, but if a deal is agreed upon by both Sprint and T-Mobile, there will be quite a bit of conversation over if it would be a good thing or not.
source: WSJ
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