Slashdot Mirror
Failure of Sprint/T-Mobile Merger Means a Missed Chance To Save $30B (kansascity.com)
UPDATE (11/5/17): Sprint and T-Mobile confirmed Saturday that they've ended their merger talks, saying they were "unable to find mutually agreeable terms." The Kansas City Star reports that the failure "means shareholders of the two companies gave up $30 billion or more in cost savings that their managements had expected a merger to generate.
"One combined wireless company would have needed to invest less in its network than the two competing companies spend separately... Absent a merger, Sprint now faces a highly competitive marketplace as the smallest national player and with a more aggressive rival in T-Mobile."
Several news outlets had already reported on Monday that Japan's conglomerate SoftBank, which owns Sprint, has pulled the plug on a proposed merger between the two carriers. From a report: SoftBank will reportedly propose ending merger talks with T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom as soon as Tuesday, October 31st. That's according to Nikkei, which says that SoftBank wants to end merger talks due to "a failure to agree on ownership of the combined entity." It's said that Deutsche Telekom insisted on a controlling stake of the combined T-Mobile-Sprint, and that some people at SoftBank were okay with that as long as SoftBank had some sort of influence. However, SoftBank's board recently decided that it wouldn't give up control, and today it decided that it wants to call off the merger talks.
Last Monday Sprint and T-Mobile shares both fell immediately following the media reports.
"One combined wireless company would have needed to invest less in its network than the two competing companies spend separately... Absent a merger, Sprint now faces a highly competitive marketplace as the smallest national player and with a more aggressive rival in T-Mobile."
Several news outlets had already reported on Monday that Japan's conglomerate SoftBank, which owns Sprint, has pulled the plug on a proposed merger between the two carriers. From a report: SoftBank will reportedly propose ending merger talks with T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom as soon as Tuesday, October 31st. That's according to Nikkei, which says that SoftBank wants to end merger talks due to "a failure to agree on ownership of the combined entity." It's said that Deutsche Telekom insisted on a controlling stake of the combined T-Mobile-Sprint, and that some people at SoftBank were okay with that as long as SoftBank had some sort of influence. However, SoftBank's board recently decided that it wouldn't give up control, and today it decided that it wants to call off the merger talks.
Last Monday Sprint and T-Mobile shares both fell immediately following the media reports.
If Spring merged with T-Mobile, it would fade into mediocrity. Now that they aren't, Sprint will fade into mediocrity.
If this deal goes ahead, there will be three big cellular operators competing with one another.
If this deal doesn't, there will be two big cellular operators competing with one another, with a third also-ran, and a fourth perpetually on the verge of going bankrupt. Like right now.
Market diversity is impossible without healthy competitors.
All of which said, if Softbank/Sprint insists on playing a role in the post-merger "T-Sprint", then it probably shouldn't go ahead. They have done little to fix Sprint or address its underlying issues, and T-Mobile is doing a superb job considering their lack of resources. Let's hope sanity prevails.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
The Japanese stakeholders were unwilling to start wearing pink shirts.
#DeleteChrome
T-Mobile is not going anywhere. They already have a really nice network in most cities, they lack coverage in rural areas and in some markets but they still show a healthy growth.
on Sprint's part, about who the real loser in this pairing is.
Management/merger failures is how they got into the position they are now. Why the hell would T-Mobile, who have only been doing gangbusters-better the last five years, let Sprint take the wheel of the combined company?
Actually strike what I said in that previous reply...Sprint has been saying that big upgrades are right around the corner, usually placing 3-6 month timespans, for the past 12 years. They have a tower upgrade map that always shows these short timespans, ranging anywhere from a month or a year, where they say the tower is being upgraded. Meanwhile, that entire time, the service kept getting worse and worse.
Oh and: https://www.cnet.com/news/spri...
It's well past that two years, and two years before that, Sprint said "pardon our dust":
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/21/...
Seriously, this is nothing new with Sprint. I was with them for a very long time before I got tired of their shit, especially when they blatantly lied to me saying that my dropped call rate was 0%, and during that same call I got dropped, the rep actually called me back, I said WTF, and she said "I don't know what that was."
First, T-Mobile just won a shit-ton of Spectrum in the 600MHz range, which will greatly improve both Coverage and Building penetration, so TMO service is only going to improve.
Second, a Merger between T-Mobile and Sprint would have a difficult time getting approval based on the AT&T / T-Mobile outcome.
Also,Mergers generally mean some Layoffs, so which an Administration focused on Job creation I see this as even more unlikely.