T-Mobile/Sprint: When 3 + 4 = 3

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On April 29, 2018, T-Mobile US and Sprint announced that the boards of the two companies had agreed to enter into an agreement to merge. The companies said they hope to close the deal in the first half of 2019. The most obvious argument in favor the deal? “Telecom is a scale business,” said Blair Levin, a policy adviser for the analysis firm New Street Research. “There are huge advantages of scale, and T-Mobile and Sprint have been carrying the cost of a network over a much smaller number of customers.” But there's a lot going on here in a deal that would change the US wireless market. T-Mobile and Sprint face a number of political hurdles — including consumers’ heightened skepticism about the rapid pace of consolidation in the media and telecommunications industries. From President Trump to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), policymakers have been sounding off against these deals and may train their fire on this transaction. Some analysts say the government’s argument for opposing a T-Mobile/Sprint hook-up in 2014 has since proved correct. Preventing consolidation paved the way for T-Mobile to launch its "Uncarrier" campaign that reshaped the wireless industry, said Craig Moffett, a telecom analyst at the research firm MoffettNathanson. The result has been lower prices and more consumer-friendly business practices, such as the end of long-term customer contracts. 


T-Mobile/Sprint: When 3 + 4 = 3