A planned trip to the altar for two telecommunication giants is now a definitive no-go after talks fall apart.
T-Mobile and Sprint have been attempting a potential merger, but on Saturday the two companies released a joint statement announcing that they’ve decided not to go forward. The decision was made due to both parties being “unable to find mutually agreeable terms.” If T-Mobile and Sprint had aligned, they would collectively rise to the number three provider slot in the U.S. mobile market. A U.S. market with T-Sprint would be (for better or worse) a significantly changed market.
Reports suggest that a major hurdle to the merger wasn’t Sprint or T-Mobile directly, but rather the their ownership. Germany’s Deutsche Telekom (which own T-Mobile) and Japan’s SoftBank (owners of Sprint) couldn’t come to terms on who would control the combined companies so there was no way to go forward. The tone of the release suggests T-Mobile and Sprint are still on pleasant enough terms, so it’s not unthinkable to imagine the two to partnering in some capacity in the future.
With merger talk officially through, that means T-Mobile and Sprint will have to revisit their position in a marketplace where Verizon and AT&T dwarf their wireless subscriber totals. What can the next era of T-Mobile and Sprint do to gain ground? Both companies may have to sort that out sooner rather than later.
(Via Variety)