Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[Arysyn]

In a sense, I'm disappointed about this, but then again this has me hoping T-Mobile will go for Dish, otherwise Sprint may tie up with Dish. However, I think it would be better for Sprint to grab U.S. Cellular, while T-Mobile goes for Dish, then later on let the cable companies go after Sprint once the cable industry consolidates enough to make owning a national wireless carrier viable.

[greenbastard]

2 hours ago, RedSpark said:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/30/sprint-shares-drop-more-than-5-percent-on-report-that-softbank-is-calling-off-talks-with-t-mobile.html

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Deals/SoftBank-calling-off-talks-to-merge-Sprint-T-Mobile

So there's this now....

Either SoftBank is trying to squeeze more from the deal in the last hour or another player (Dish, cable provider, or foreign interest) has approached SoftBank with some interest.

I highly doubt SoftBank wants Sprint to go at it alone. They're the ones who approached T-Mobile and cable companies in hopes of a merger after all. 

SoftBank isn't finished. 

[shaferz]

This news makes me smile.  LETS GO SPRINT. 

[NYC126]

1 minute ago, Arysyn said:

In a sense, I'm disappointed about this, but then again this has me hoping T-Mobile will go for Dish, otherwise Sprint may tie up with Dish. However, I think it would be better for Sprint to grab U.S. Cellular, while T-Mobile goes for Dish, then later on let the cable companies go after Sprint once the cable industry consolidates enough to make owning a national wireless carrier viable.

This fantasy of Tmobile grabbing Dish has been around for 3 years now. I don't think that will happen because Eager will never give up control of Dish. 

Tmobile strategy regarding spectrum is finished for now. They see Verizon can sustain over 140 millions wireless connections with the only 113mhz of it. So I am sure Mr. Neville arrogantly tells Tmobile executives we can do the same. The problem is Verizon print money and they go insane adding small cells and towers everywhere.

[Arysyn]

25 minutes ago, SprintNYC said:

This fantasy of Tmobile grabbing Dish has been around for 3 years now. I don't think that will happen because Eager will never give up control of Dish. 

Tmobile strategy regarding spectrum is finished for now. They see Verizon can sustain over 140 millions wireless connections with the only 113mhz of it. So I am sure Mr. Neville arrogantly tells Tmobile executives we can do the same. The problem is Verizon print money and they go insane adding small cells and towers everywhere.

Strange thing is for years there was talk about Dish having to give up spectrum if they don't use it by a certain time, yet that time must have well past by now. Yet, no news regarding that anymore. I imagine so long as Dish doesn't get pressure to do something, then they probably will resist things like mergers, etc., but if that time does come again, it'll be in Dish's interest to look for suitors.

My view on a Dish/T-Mobile tie-up, granted if Ergen were more willing based on pressure, is that a merger between those two would be much easier to be accepted by the regulators than a T-Mobile/Sprint combo. It would give T-Mobile some nice selling perks with entertainment bundle options and while not the huge spectrum gain they'd get with Sprint, Dish's added spectrum would keep T-Mobile well set for future growth, while currently some markets are already strapped for spectrum, such as the Chicago market.

Surely the added 600mhz spectrum will help, but add in Dish's mid-band spectrum to the mix, T-Mobile has plenty room for growth, without any worry. Regarding Verizon, their spectrum seems strapped when their speed numbers dwindle due to unlimited data. Its one of the few things Legere has been right to target.

[BlueAngel]

Was hoping this would go through. :|

[S4GRU]

I'll wait a few weeks.  But if this deal is actually dead and not part of some bargaining tactic, I may need to revisit coming back to Sprint now.

[cletus]

Welp.

Time to see what Sprint/Softbank can come up with. T-Mobile+Sprint would have been incredibly powerful and game changing and I really look forward to it. Without the investment into it's network to be more robust and keep up with the other players I don't see much more from Sprint other than meager subscriber gains and hovering between small profits and losses depending on accounting. Lower and lower capex is not a great sign for a network that needs a lot more work to be competitive. I see Tmobile and AT&T on the upward swing with Verizon shedding some numbers to them.

For myself I see a higher likelihood that I will go from Sprint to AT&T. My work phone is AT&T and to be frank the coverage, speed, and quality of service are noticeably higher on that phone. Sprint is a good budget choice for me (with my corporate discount) but now that my promo period ($ per line) has ended I am going to reexamine the options.

Edit: Maybe it isn't totally off?

Sprint T-Mobile deal struggling with governance and pricing issues

[Mercurial1]

I'll wait a few weeks.  But if this deal is actually dead and not part of some bargaining tactic, I may need to revisit coming back to Sprint now.

When WSJ says Sprint will walk away and invest heavily in its network instead the skeptic in me thinks this is a power play for a better price from DT

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[derrph]

8 minutes ago, Mercurial1 said:

When WSJ says Sprint will walk away and invest heavily in its network instead the skeptic in me thinks this is a power play for a better price from DT

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By Sprint saying they will instead invest heavily into its network as a power play does what exactly? I don't think that will scare DT into bending being that Sprint is a distant 4th player. It's almost laughable and DT saying "Yeah ok."

I guess we will found out what happens tomorrow!

 

[Dkoellerwx]

21 minutes ago, cletus said:

Welp.

Time to see what Sprint/Softbank can come up with. T-Mobile+Sprint would have been incredibly powerful and game changing and I really look forward to it.....

 

16 minutes ago, Mercurial1 said:

When WSJ says Sprint will walk away and invest heavily in its network instead the skeptic in me thinks this is a power play for a better price from DT

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7 minutes ago, derrph said:

By Sprint saying they will instead invest heavily into its network as a power play does what exactly? I don't think that will scare DT into bending being that Sprint is a distant 4th player. It's almost laughable and DT saying "Yeah ok."

I guess we will found out what happens tomorrow!

 

Seeing as you are all sponsors, have you checked out the NV sites map lately? Specifically the changes map. Notice the progress that has been made, especially the *new* sites that are showing up...

[cletus]

5 minutes ago, Dkoellerwx said:

 

 

Seeing as you are all sponsors, have you checked out the NV sites map lately? Specifically the changes map. Notice the progress that has been made, especially the *new* sites that are showing up...

Sure. My counterpoint is there is a distinct difference between coverage and user experience. My experience overall the past 2 years or so is yes, coverage is improving but that makes the poor speed towers/lack of backhaul areas that much more jarring especially in urban centers. Comparatively, my AT&T service is much less ups and downs with a more consistent experience but I will admit the fastest speedtests on sprint are higher.

Grass is greener/more expensive on the other side I guess. 

[Dkoellerwx]

1 minute ago, sunmybun said:

Wsj article

Thank god no merger hehehe

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None of that is legible, plus we do not allow full copy and past of articles on this site. 

[sunmybun]

None of that is legible, plus we do not allow full copy and past of articles on this site. 

Sorry i forgot


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[joshnys8913]

From what I have seen as of today it sounds like this merger is not going to happen which I am really happy about I was NOT in favor at all. If Softbank/Sprint wants someone, I would suggest to Son to start talking to US Cellular (Sprint already took their Chicago area). I know US Cellular doesn't have a nation wide footprint BUT there are some rural areas US Cellular covers that not even Verizon covers with out its roaming agreements (Example the Maine issue that was in the news not long ago). I was really happy when Sprint got the n' Telos merger (even thought that was really through Shentel). 

[NYC126]

So the Softbank board finally wake up..... Have they followed through with this nonsense of merger the would end having a presence in the wireless broadband market the United States. The Germans wanted total control from the start, I don't  understand what kind of control didn't Massa Son understood. Also didn't he says he has a 300 years world domination plan so why no be patient with Sprint.

[dkyeager]

2 hours ago, SprintNYC said:

This fantasy of Tmobile grabbing Dish has been around for 3 years now. I don't think that will happen because Eager will never give up control of Dish. 

Tmobile strategy regarding spectrum is finished for now. They see Verizon can sustain over 140 millions wireless connections with the only 113mhz of it. So I am sure Mr. Neville arrogantly tells Tmobile executives we can do the same. The problem is Verizon print money and they go insane adding small cells and towers everywhere.

Verizon gobbled up a lot of high band spectrum earlier this year.  AT & T also added some.

[dkyeager]

In the end, a lot of mergers are driven by egos.  Softbank is willing to invest more, it just has to be the right vehicle.  DT wants a highly profitable subsidiary.  With some structural creativity and patience they can make this idea work. 

[Arysyn]

Update :

TmoNews now is reporting that CNBC is claiming the deal is not off the table, but there are concerns in the negotiations :

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/30/sources-sprint-t-mobile-deal-struggling-with-governance-and-pricing-issues.html

https://www.tmonews.com/2017/10/softbank-end-t-mobile-sprint-merger-negotiations/

So, time will tell. For Sprint's sake, this merger is a great deal of importance, unless Softbank actually is serious in spending money on the network. Do I believe Sprint wants to improve the network? Yes I do, and I trust that Sprint wants to grow. Do I believe Softbank really is going to support Sprint? No, not at all. However, as much I dislike alot of things about John Legere, I definitely believe he would help Sprint succeed alot more than what Softbank is doing.

[derrph]

 

According to this video, there is a rumor that Son is considering buy 100% of Sprint and will start to fund them and help with debt. I can’t find this rumor on the web. I think if Son wanted to do that he would have from the beginning. Then too there is that buying past 85% stuff.


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Edited October 30, 2017 by Dkoellerwx
Rumor mill

[twospirits]

3 hours ago, SprintNYC said:

This fantasy of Tmobile grabbing Dish has been around for 3 years now. I don't think that will happen because Eager will never give up control of Dish.

The same with Son not giving up control of Sprint or any merged combo. 

But Son has the money, so...

 

TS

[Dkoellerwx]

9 minutes ago, derrph said:

 

According to this video, there is a rumor that Son is considering buy 100% of Sprint and will start to fund them and help with debt. I can’t find this rumor on the web. I think if Son wanted to do that he would have from the beginning. Then too there is that buying past 85% stuff.


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Lets stay away from unfounded rumors please. Particularly that Youtube channel.

[Fraydog]

Truth is, if Comcast came back to the table, I’d be OK with that. Sure, they don’t have a stellar reputation but Sprint doesn’t have a great reputation right now either. Comcast has the capital to spend. Does SoftBank care? 

Frankly, given SoftBank’s track record, maybe they should sell to someone. It doesn’t have to be T-Mobile. 

[Fraydog]

On another note, I'm not sure SoftBank has the 100 billion it would probably take to buy a combined Charter. Besides, if SoftBank was under capitalizing Sprint and yet found 100 billion for a pay TV business people are cutting the cord from, then what in the world was SoftBank doing with Sprint.

If that's what Sprint is being owned by, then give me Legere all day.

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[dro1984]

Still no clear news on what is going on... Merger talks are said to be still going.   None of the business news orgs know any detail.   From what is known, DT has said the merger talks are still on... 

This is all very strange and with no news coming out ?....