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T-Mobile CEO Philip Humm neither denies, nor confirms the rumours Sprint may acquire T-Mo

T-Mobile CEO Philip Humm neither denies, nor confirms the rumours Sprint may acquire T-Mo

Posted: 14 Mar 2011, 08:48, by Alex I.

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Tags : T-Mobile -T-Mobile + Sprint -Sprint +

T-Mobile CEO Philip Humm neither denies, nor confirms the rumours Sprint may acquire T-Mo

A few days ago reports flooded the net that Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile, is in talks to sell the fourth-largest US carrier to Sprint.

Now a letter written by T-Mo's CEO Philip Humm neither denies, nor confirms the rumours that Sprint may acquire its rival. However, we think it's safe to assume that his words won't reassure these people who fear the idea Sprint and T-Mobile may merge into one carrier. Here's a part of the letter:

"As a global business leader, DT will always explore the options for maximizing the value of its portfolio and profits, as any business does. During our investor and media conference in January, Rene and I discussed several potential options to improve our competitive position, such as the sale of towers, strategic partnership, and other financial options."

Make of this what you want (especially the strategic partnership part), really, but we want to know your opinion - do you believe it would be a good move for both Sprint and T-Mobile if they merge into a single carrier?

source: T-Mo News

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29 Comments

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posted on 14 Mar 2011, 09:03 3

1. elandrumiii (Posts: 109; Member since: 20 Mar 2010)

After the Sprint Nextel debacle I don't see how Sprint could mess this one up. They already know where they are going and acquiring T-Mobile would only make getting there easier.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 16:05

16. nothing (unregistered)

2 garbage companies do not make 1 good company...terrible move...this coming from a sprint employee

posted on 15 Mar 2011, 09:19 3

24. jbash (Posts: 345; Member since: 07 Feb 2011)

Part of the reason why Sprint gets a bad rap is because of ppl like you. Way to take pride in your work. SMH

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 09:28 2

2. Smitty Barnes (unregistered)

Good move. Stop living in the past regarding the Nextel merger. This is a very different situation as technologies are beginning to merge together.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 11:45 1

7. remixfa (Posts: 14604; Member since: 19 Dec 2008)

Smitty,
these technologies couldnt be more OPPOSITE. They are both "TALKING" about an LTE path, but neither one of them has it.
Its not going to happen, and if it does, they will stay 2 seperate companies until they have a full LTE buildout to share. At that point they would probably shut down sprint's network and go GSM as Tmobile's HSPA+ backhaul is waaaaaaay faster than sprints 3g (soon to be 44mb/s compared to 2mb/s).

If they flipped all of sprints towers to GSM, the resulting coverage area would be phenomenal LTE+ and HSPA++ as the "slow" speed would be great.

But.. its not going to happen.

Also, in typical PA fashion, they showed 1 paragraph of a full page letter that everyone else reported on last wed.. lol.

posted on 15 Mar 2011, 00:19

22. donpeppino9 (Posts: 67; Member since: 24 Jan 2010)

i dont think we should focus on the technology as much. both companies can share other assets to make them more competitive. marketing, radio spectrum, rate plans could all be shared to improve each other. eventually they would build out a 4g network together.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 10:10

3. jbash (Posts: 345; Member since: 07 Feb 2011)

nice stepping stone if they decide to go with LTE down the road. CDMA voice and text and HSPA+ for data in the short term. Just an idea don't know how plausable. The hard part is all the different plans and signal platforms(cdma, gsm, and iden) that customers are on.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 10:27 1

4. wordscolliding (unregistered)

Just remember that ALL the leadership from the Sprint/Nextel merger are long gone. Different CEO, different Chairman, different Board of Directors, different CFO, CTO, Executive VP's, etc etc. If this happens, the only thing it will have in common with the Sprint/Nextel merger is the logo. (And who knows if even that would change...)

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 10:32 2

5. Viboi (unregistered)

I think that Sprint should acquire because first of all T-mobile is a struggling company as far as service but the company has money. Sprint is the third largest carrier with the cheapest rate plans, so if you really think about it, if they acquire Tmobile that would mean more towers for better coverage and that will give them the option of CDMA / GSM. Better coverage means competition for At&t & Verizon. Also Sprint already has REAL 4G so it will enhance the 4g coverage as well. Also if the merge happens Sprint should keeps all its plans and just include t-mobile customer and make all Sprint phones with CDMA/GSM capabilities.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 11:46 2

8. remixfa (Posts: 14604; Member since: 19 Dec 2008)

you obviously have no understanding of technology. if you did, you wouldnt of typed any of that. lol.

posted on 15 Mar 2011, 00:21

23. donpeppino9 (Posts: 67; Member since: 24 Jan 2010)

haha i dont think this person does, lets just give an A for effort.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 22:57

21. CRICKETownz (Posts: 980; Member since: 24 Oct 2009)

And by the time the two technologies get ironed out and function at a reliable level 4G for the other carriers would be well solidified which would mean that all that work from a merger to take the long route to produce an average result...

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 11:37

6. Concerned TMO custy (unregistered)

Although i do think change would be good for both companies, cause lets be honest neither company has the best rep, i do wonder what direction the technology will go. What sounds great is the possiblity of the best rate plans with a combination of plans possible. But TMO seems to be the only company with multiple devices available that actually use its "4G" capabilties and getting faster.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 11:49 1

9. shinobi (Posts: 8; Member since: 14 Feb 2011)

I am already thinking to ged rid of T-Mobile..Did a stupid thing and upfrade with Samsung Vibrant phone((((But if T-Mobile will go together with freaky Sprint I definitely will pay $200 ,sell phone on EBay and will continue with my current AT&T deal which is much better !But I hope none of this shit will never come into a real life !!!!!

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 14:01

11. jbash (Posts: 345; Member since: 07 Feb 2011)

so you wanna nearly double your monthly bill and not have as much coverage than go with sprint. SMART!

Assuming you kept a smartphone with unlimited Talk, Text, and Web

T-mobile $99.00 Data throttling at 5GB

ATT $115 for 2GB data cap $135 for 4GB cap

Sprint $110.

Verizon $120.00 5000 texts unlimited mobile to mobile text

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 16:53

17. bingobongo (unregistered)

"T-mobile $99.00 Data throttling at 5GB"

That's for T-Mo's Mobile Broadband Service home-skillet--Smartphone Web is $10 for 200-MB or $30 for Unlimited

posted on 15 Mar 2011, 09:24

25. jbash (Posts: 345; Member since: 07 Feb 2011)

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Cell-Phone-Plans.aspx?catgroup=Individual&uid=Shop_1_2

posted on 17 Mar 2011, 22:02

28. pickles (Posts: 14; Member since: 18 Jan 2011)

with at&t at this point for 84.99 you can get unlimited calling to ANY cellphone on ANY network (sound familiar?), UNLIMITED SMS/MMS and instant/video messaging, YES a 2gb data cap, big deal unless you're a power user (less than 2% of smartphone users on AT&T use more than that and AT&T has more smartphones than sprint), 5000 night/weekend minutes, and 450 anytime minutes that rollover. how is at&t gonna double his bill? get a grip dude. sprint has more national coverage than at&t or verizon? since when? most of it's roaming! you're just a sprint fanboy. at&t isn't the best, but for some people it is the best for them. same with any carrier.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 13:53

10. SoJUICED (Posts: 11; Member since: 14 May 2010)

Just bring back analog....and everything will be gravy...

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 14:24

12. luis_lopez_351 (Posts: 951; Member since: 18 Nov 2010)

We need more competition not less >:(

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 14:26 1

13. box (unregistered)

As a T-Mobile customer, if T-Mo were sold to sprint, I'd be porting right out to AT&T, or maybe one of the smaller discount carriers, wherever I'd be able to get my monthly recurring charges less than $50/mo for 300+ mins, unlimted text/data for non-smartphone, and GSM/UMTS

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 15:14

14. screwball (unregistered)

Since when is HSPA++ faster than WIMAX, obviously LTE is the way to go but HSPA++ doesnt even reach 4g speeds.

In fact: At&T had the FCC change the definition of 4g from an acutal speed to just " a considerable increase in speed from 3g."

This would be a great merger if they could properly combine the strengths but that wont happen, this is america its about the money not about the quality.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 15:30 1

15. Jackbenimble (unregistered)

Sprint should buy T-Mobile and then release exclusive phones that have CDMA and GSM antennas, making coverage awesome everywhere.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 16:53

18. luis_lopez_351 (Posts: 951; Member since: 18 Nov 2010)

good idea but to much work and would be expensive -__-"

posted on 17 Mar 2011, 21:31

27. tr0s (unregistered)

uhhh ok so it would require some rewiring/programming but i wouldn't say it would be difficult. sprint blackberry tour, bold, 8830, and htc touch pro2 all have cdma and gsm antenna's. granted the data is a slight challenge on some but the technology is already on the market.

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 18:49

19. djhoolang (unregistered)

I hope they don't merge, I live in South Texas, and Sprint coverage is very limited here. If they do it then they should let us get out of our contracts early without paying for it. I would want to switch to Verizon, they have the best phones, and when I am in my home state of Iowa, I can get service there, which I can't do with sprint or t-mobile!

posted on 14 Mar 2011, 19:38

20. thatguy (unregistered)

So will they keep both CDMA and GSM running or what? I would not want to give my N1 and be forced to a new contract and a new phone.

posted on 15 Mar 2011, 10:50

26. johngalt (Posts: 5; Member since: 17 Feb 2011)

My primary concern would be in regards to competition. If they do merege, then you will essentially be down to 3 major players in the US market. Once that hapens the carriers will be subject to outlandish Governmet scrutiny and eventually will be broken up, a-la ma bell and once that happens you coverage has a very strong chance of being "regional" as it was in the late 90s- on the other side, it makes perfect business sense for sprint-good opportunioty to increase coverage and clients

posted on 19 Mar 2011, 19:41

29. sprint customer (unregistered)

Who cares? Everyone has the carrier they want. If you don't like Sprint then you just don't like them. If you have another carrier then why even post on this topic ? Sprint may have shitty coverage in certain areas, but I can say that my phone works. And you idiots who are always trying to prove your point by throwing out numbers and arguing about who pays more, you didn't chose your phone based off of your bill, you got it based off of your phone. So all this crap about "roaming on the network most of the time" was a decision you made, so don't bash it or talk shit because if you want to know why your shit is getting turned off and sent to collections every month, look in the mirror.