WSJ: Sprint looking at T-Mobile purchase

[GinaDee]

See that Bloomberg Businessweek article I linked to earlier in the thread?

 

I don't have any personal vitriol toward him but he's clearly a very hard person to work with or try to negotiate with. That's well established.

 

Got it!  

[Destroyallcubes]

Sprint could upgrade its network without T-Mobile.  Adding T-Mobile to the mix would further delay Sprint's delayed NV rollout 

If by delay you mean by delay the completion date, then yeah, but would allow sprint to use tower leases Tmobile uses and actually upgrade them, and expand coverage to fit the other big 2. I don't think this would be as bad of a thing. Right now the only way to compete with the big 2 is to expand. That's one big complaint about sprint and tmobile. If instead of 2 semi nation wide coverage companies,  you had 3 nationwide companies, than the people actually have a better choice.

[dnicekid]

They bought out clear wire and had softbank buy the majority so they could compete. A buyout would just help even out the field, and would make Verizon and ATT get off their asses and do something. Plus, this would be the a way to actually make 3 true national carriers. Otherwise it can only go 3 big ones and one company would be left in the dust and picked up later. T-Mobile or sprint will be merged together or one will fail and be picked up by another in the future.

I agree, remember everyone forgets that had att bought tmo it woulda have been a super giant, in turn sprint would have kept failing and would have been forced to sell out to vzw. That not only would have left 2 players, but that would have put all kinds of pressure on the smaller regional carriers. The big 2 would essentially have control over the little guys by having so much power!

[dnicekid]

I don't see why y'all seem to think Unlimited data is a good thing. I basically forces everyone that doesn't use a lot of data to subsidize the people that do. The problem in the US is the big 2 charge a ton for very little data. If you look at our European counterparts they offer data at a much more reasonable rate. EE in the UK offer unlimited talk/text plus 10gb for 53 pounds a month. or 20gb for 58. you couldn't even get 1gb for that amount on verizon or att 

I believe sprint should offer unlimited...  maybe (please people dont shoot me) even raise it +10 and offer say 3gb for $20.

I think its kinda silly for $20 for 1 and $30 for unlimited. I know some will pay more. However, for the heavy users they are still paying less, while some of us small users can save a little.

[bigsnake49]

Sprint could upgrade its network without T-Mobile.  Adding T-Mobile to the mix would further delay Sprint's delayed NV rollout 

And they will. Spark will be substantially complete by the end of 2014. Which is probably when the merger will close if the started in the beginning of the year.

Edited December 15, 2013 by bigsnake49

[bigsnake49]

If T-Mobile buys 700MHz spectrum from Verizon, will the combined company then go after 600MHz spectrum? That would be 3 low frequency bands. There will have to be some exchange of frequencies and consolidation of spectrum.

[bigsnake49]

Also, there's the possibility to divest enough spectrum to Dish that they can eventually build out to be the new 4th player. Would it be easy? No, but it may be the only way Dish can stand long-term as a separate entity.

 

The only way this merger will fly is if the resulting entity divests substantial amounts of spectrum. I'm just guessing it will be EBS spectrum since it is leased and not owned. 

 

[dnicekid]

I am bouncing back and forth between yes and no. I really think sprint is doing the best thing ..... LOOKING INTO IT they havent committed to trying to purchase it yet. If sprint does I can see it as a positive by it could actually help nv in some areas! Looking at how long it could take to complete imagine if new phones came out with one additional band! (didnt someone say quad band somewhere on this site a few weeks ago?) That would allow  hspa+ for us and something for them until its finally consolidated in a 2-3 yrs? 

 

I dont believe sprint or tmo will ever be able to play with att/vzw unless they merge.. Obviously, with cash fromsoftbank sprint is still alive. Lets assume sprint backs out, completes nv - then what? Spark is making headlines but vzw already added capacity and better speeds QUIETLY. ATT is moving along as well. If either one of those 2 want to do something to stay ahead or keep up, they have can. So that alone will always keep sprint 1-2 steps behind. To be a national carrier, and keep low prices something has to give - and that has been our service. Now they are upgrading, how long will it be before prices start going up? A network that competes with companies 2x bigger, just as good but for less?-- For how long is the question.

 

Tmo is doing it now- same question. For how long can they sustain it before it breaks their bank? Lets be real, why would someone leave att/vzw for less speeds/coverage? If the coverage and speeds are good and the price is less SOME will leave -yes. But I just dont see vzw/att LOSING 10MIL+  EACH over say the next 3 years. which is what sprint AND tmo need!

 

IF tmo and sprint join up and somehow combined their aggressive pricing and got the network going THEN vzw/att people will start looking AND att/vzw will have to lower prices to stay competitive. 

When you talk to att/vzw now they are the "Jaguars"  and sprint/tmo are the Yugos..... you go to them when you cant get service with us! 

 

vzw/att are simply to far ahead for any to compete with except themselves. 

Also, what about Charlie?  Wait till he gets in! This could be the reason Sprint is doing this...1) To compete with the big 2.... OR  2) Charlie is gonna get in, so they are making him pay more for tmo... 3) Charlie is gonna get in with plans of buying a lot of regional carriers to get his own thing going - which would be a direct threat to tmo/sprint.

[bigsnake49]

T-Mobile will be able to sustain their momentum for maybe another quarter or two. By the end of 2014 everybody will have completed their buildouts and will have plenty of bandwidth. Then what? It will be static, and the only growth will come from other devices (connected cars, tablets, etc). So unless Sprint or T-mobile come up with something truly innovative, the only way to grow their customer base is to compete on price. How long can they afford to do that?

 

Now even if they merge, they will be at a severe disadvantage to the big two. 53M pospaid customers vs 72M for AT&T and 95M for Verizon. The other two can afford to wait them out. 

[Destroyallcubes]

I agree, remember everyone forgets that had att bought tmo it woulda have been a super giant, in turn sprint would have kept failing and would have been forced to sell out to vzw. That not only would have left 2 players, but that would have put all kinds of pressure on the smaller regional carriers. The big 2 would essentially have control over the little guys by having so much power!

Yeah I posted about that a few pages back, but I think this would make it a more level playing field. A thing people complain about on sprint now (besides network upgrade issues) is coverage. How much you roam and such, same for tmobile (edge). But imagine if sprint could put NV on all of those edge only towers? They would gain massive coverage especially since they have 1x800. I would like to see it happen , but again I would also like to see Tmobule fail but then it'd most likely get gobbled up by the big 2

[MacPCS]

I'd much rather them purchase US Cellular or C-Spire or nTelos.  

 

or just some of the PCS spectrum assets (and maybe take the customers) from T-Mo/MetroPCS similar to how they did the recent deal with US Cellular.  

 

I'd prefer to not have Sprint not be forced to swallow all of T-Mobile.  That's asking quite a lot financially, and would take a lot of resources away from Network Vision which really is the foundation of Sprint's future at this point and they should be laser focused on executing that as expeditiously as possible.  

[WiWavelength]

If by delay you mean by delay the completion date, then yeah, but would allow sprint to use tower leases Tmobile uses and actually upgrade them, and expand coverage to fit the other big 2. I don't think this would be as bad of a thing. Right now the only way to compete with the big 2 is to expand. That's one big complaint about sprint and tmobile. If instead of 2 semi nation wide coverage companies,  you had 3 nationwide companies, than the people actually have a better choice.

Yeah I posted about that a few pages back, but I think this would make it a more level playing field. A thing people complain about on sprint now (besides network upgrade issues) is coverage. How much you roam and such, same for tmobile (edge). But imagine if sprint could put NV on all of those edge only towers? They would gain massive coverage especially since they have 1x800. I would like to see it happen , but again I would also like to see Tmobule fail but then it'd most likely get gobbled up by the big 2

 

Your impression of T-Mobile's rural footprint is out of proportion.  T-Mobile has some rural coverage where Sprint does not and vice versa.  But those non overlapping bits and pieces do not amount to significant geographic area.  In short, a Sprint-T-Mobile pairing would not greatly expand their overall combined native footprint.  It most certainly would not approach the respective coverage footprints that VZW and AT&T have bought themselves.

 

However, vast expansion is not necessary.  Both Sprint and T-Mobile are already national operators.  And as T-Mobile has shown for several years, it can attract/retain tens of millions of users by providing fast W-CDMA/LTE service in cities -- even though it offers weak to non existent GSM service outside cities.

 

So, a combined Sprint-T-Mobile would gain some additional rural footprint via synergies.  And the existing rural footprint would swell and fill in a bit via SMR 800 MHz -- but T-Mobile users would not likely get the benefit of CDMA1X 800, only LTE 800.

 

AJ

[dnicekid]

I'd much rather them purchase US Cellular or C-Spire or nTelos.  

 

or just some of the PCS spectrum assets (and maybe take the customers) from T-Mo/MetroPCS similar to how they did the recent deal with US Cellular.  

 

I'd prefer to not have Sprint not be forced to swallow all of T-Mobile.  That's asking quite a lot financially, and would take a lot of resources away from Network Vision which really is the foundation of Sprint's future at this point and they should be laser focused on executing that as expeditiously as possible.  

Maybe thats how charlie gets in?  sprint takes what it can and needs from tmo charlie gets the left over spectrum and something like that? 

[dnicekid]

Your impression of T-Mobile's rural footprint is out of proportion.  T-Mobile has some rural coverage where Sprint does not and vice versa.  But those non overlapping bits and pieces do not amount to significant geographic area.  In short, a Sprint-T-Mobile pairing would not greatly expand their overall combined native footprint.  It most certainly would not approach the respective coverage footprints that VZW and AT&T have bought themselves.

 

However, vast expansion is not necessary.  Both Sprint and T-Mobile are already national operators.  And as T-Mobile has shown for several years, it can attract/retain tens of millions of users by providing fast W-CDMA/LTE service in cities -- even though it offers weak to non existent GSM service outside cities.

 

So, a combined Sprint-T-Mobile would gain some additional rural footprint via synergies.  And the existing rural footprint would swell and fill in a bit via SMR 800 MHz -- but T-Mobile users would not likely get the benefit of CDMA1X 800, only LTE 800.

 

AJ

So sprint would basically just get more subs and overall have the best metro coverage? As far as capacity and density in just about every major city?  Which for one could force reasonable roaming agreements with vz/att... Could they have so much capacity to let vzw/att offload or roam on their spark/lte/hspa+??

[IamMrFamous07]

I think were all overthinking about this possible merger . I'm surprised Dish, vzw, or AT&T hasn't made an official statement but they are probably are waiting until it's official.

 

 

Random : I think SoftBank wants it all they already have sprint and clear and now they can possibly have metro and tmobile. Won't be surprised if they buy spectrum from US cellular(more), cspire etc. and I still think Dish and sprint are working together behind the scenes.

[IamMrFamous07]

I'm just afraid sprint will get too big (eventually) and start being unethical like Att and Verizon. I definitely want them to be known as the carrier that has comparable if not better service (voice and data) than them but cheaper lol.

[WiWavelength]

Here is some food for thought...

 

Many who oppose a Sprint-T-Mobile tie up think that the FCC will also oppose it.  But where was the FCC opposition when it allowed VZW and AT&T to dominate the industry in death by a thousand cuts -- AirTouch, GTE, PrimeCo, AT&TWS, Dobson, Centennial, BellSouth, Alltel, WWC, RCC, etc.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normality

 

Sure, in one fell swoop, Sprint-T-Mobile would be the largest domestic wireless merger, but it still would not match what the FCC has allowed both VZW and AT&T to each buy and parlay over the last dozen or so years.

 

AJ

[dnicekid]

Here is some food for thought...

 

Many who oppose a Sprint-T-Mobile tie up think that the FCC will also oppose it.  But where was the FCC opposition when it allowed VZW and AT&T to dominate the industry in death by a thousand cuts -- AirTouch, GTE, PrimeCo, AT&TWS, Dobson, Centennial, BellSouth, Alltel, WWC, RCC, etc.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normality

 

Sure, in one fell swoop, Sprint-T-Mobile would be the largest domestic wireless merger, but it still would not match what the FCC has allowed both VZW and AT&T to each buy and parlay over the last dozen or so years.

 

AJ

I totally agree and dont think the fcc will stop it. As I said before, if they dont allow it how do sprint/tmo survive?  What will sprint and tmo look like in ~ 5-7 years?  We will def be paying more the question is will it be "more" than the big 2???

[JossMan]

Mr. Son (SoftBank) has plenty on his plate right now, overseeing Sprint overhaul its network.  Sprint's network needs to be overhauled and completed before they even think about looking at a possible bid for T-Mobile.  And if there is anything learned is to wait...it was just 2 years ago when AT&T attempted to buy T-Mobile and was blocked by the Dept. of Justice, nothing has changed in Washington as far as voices are concerned.  They want to keep the wireless business competitive with 4 major wireless providers and making a bid in the first half of 2014 will only come to a repeat of the 2011 failed AT&T/T-Mobile merger.  

[SpenceSouth]

His methods are working though you can't knock him for that. Don't hate the playa.

+1.  I have liked T-Mobile's approach to their current market situation.  They are playing the game by their own rules for sure. 

[Destroyallcubes]

Your impression of T-Mobile's rural footprint is out of proportion.  T-Mobile has some rural coverage where Sprint does not and vice versa.  But those non overlapping bits and pieces do not amount to significant geographic area.  In short, a Sprint-T-Mobile pairing would not greatly expand their overall combined native footprint.  It most certainly would not approach the respective coverage footprints that VZW and AT&T have bought themselves.

 

However, vast expansion is not necessary.  Both Sprint and T-Mobile are already national operators.  And as T-Mobile has shown for several years, it can attract/retain tens of millions of users by providing fast W-CDMA/LTE service in cities -- even though it offers weak to non existent GSM service outside cities.

 

So, a combined Sprint-T-Mobile would gain some additional rural footprint via synergies.  And the existing rural footprint would swell and fill in a bit via SMR 800 MHz -- but T-Mobile users would not likely get the benefit of CDMA1X 800, only LTE 800.

 

AJ

In Texas it shows a ton of edge in sprint roaming areas. I am just guessing their maps are showing their edge not a roaming partner. No way I can tell. But I know a big portion to the southwest of me would benefit from an expansion. 

 

I was mainly stating that they need a more consistent network like Verizon and ATT gave to have the number of such subscribers they do. I think they both would benefit from a merger

[Terrell352]

I don't call covering the top 100 cities with spark in the next 3 years a fast rollout. Spark will be nowhere near substantially complete by the end of 2014 unless sprint is using the under promise over deliver approach

And they will. Spark will be substantially complete by the end of 2014. Which is probably when the merger will close if the started in the beginning of the year.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[JossMan]

Don't know if anyone has read this article or if it has been posted but.....

 

6 Reasons Sprint Shouldn't Buy T-Mobile.  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428370,00.asp

[Nickel]

I think this is about the money, and the spectrum. Yeah if it was merely about Charlie being a dick this wouldn't be a conversation, but money trumps all here.

That's kind of what I meant by "more reasonable" .

[WiWavelength]

Don't know if anyone has read this article or if it has been posted but.....

 

6 Reasons Sprint Shouldn't Buy T-Mobile.  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428370,00.asp

Sascha Segan uses T-Mobile for his personal service. Typical GSM and magenta love from the tech press?

 

AJ