SaysWho? Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Tomorrow is a day the wireless industry has long been waiting for, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal’s well-guarded sources — a judge is expected to rule in favor of T-Mobile and Sprint in the lawsuit that attempted to stop their industry-changing merger. That should finally allow T-Mobile and Sprint to combine to take on AT&T and Verizon, as the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice have already approved the $26.5 billion deal. Quote T-Mobile and Sprint have maintained since the merger was announced that the deal would create competition, lower prices, create American jobs, and let the combined company create a strong 5G network. The lawsuit, filed last June by ten state attorneys general, essentially argued the exact opposite, saying that the merger would be anti-competitive and would result in higher prices and worse service. T-Mobile and Sprint did agree to create more competition by creating a fourth wireless carrier that will be run by Dish. Dish’s plan is to take Boost Mobile, currently owned by Sprint, and combine it with spectrum it already owns to make a 5G network. T-Mobile will also let Dish use its network for the next seven years as Dish builds up its network. But antitrust experts say that it’s unlikely that Dish will actually be a viable competitor, and historically, similar types of commitments from other huge telecom mergers haven’t exactly panned out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spawn_of_Apathy Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 T-Mobile has been trying to offload themselves on any carrier bigger than themselves for over a decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Just now, Spawn_of_Apathy said: T-Mobile has been trying to offload themselves on any carrier bigger than themselves for over a decade. That's kind of the problem I have with everyone that has been upset about this merger. Neither Sprint or T-Mobile really wants to exist. Softbank has wanted to dump Sprint for some time and Deutsche Telekom been doing pretty much the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anathema- Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I will take them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Anyone who thinks this will end well is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 6 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said: Anyone who thinks this will end well is wrong. Eh, it was going to end poorly for either Sprint or T-Mobile regardless of anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 What are you guys talking about? T-Mobile is killing it. My issue is that with this merger they will stop innovating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 17 minutes ago, Jose said: What are you guys talking about? T-Mobile is killing it. My issue is that with this merger they will stop innovating. Regardless of how T-Mobile is doing, their parent company has shown no interest is owning them. They've been trying to offload them for years now. Other than a merger like this, T-Mobile has no path to reaching the market share of Verizon or AT&T and that seems to be the only thing Deutsche Telekom wanted out of its T-Mobile ownership. Sprint was in a less enviable position where Softbank wasn't very interested in keeping Sprint and they just weren't exciting anyone. Softbank is certainly a company run by a guy that likes flashy things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 They had a chance of reaching AT&T. They have more than doubled their subscriber total from 2013-2019. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 12 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said: Regardless of how T-Mobile is doing, their parent company has shown no interest is owning them. They've been trying to offload them for years now. Other than a merger like this, T-Mobile has no path to reaching the market share of Verizon or AT&T and that seems to be the only thing Deutsche Telekom wanted out of its T-Mobile ownership. Sprint was in a less enviable position where Softbank wasn't very interested in keeping Sprint and they just weren't exciting anyone. Softbank is certainly a company run by a guy that likes flashy things. When is the last time since 2013 that they have tried to offload them? I know about the 2011 one with AT&T, but since then the growth of the company has been nothing short of miraculous. That doesn't happen without serious investment from their parent company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 6 minutes ago, Jose said: When is the last time since 2013 that they have tried to offload them? I know about the 2011 one with AT&T, but since then the growth of the company has been nothing short of miraculous. That doesn't happen without serious investment from their parent company. Not since there was an inkling of a potential merger or acquisitions that could catapult them into even footing with Verzion and AT&T. This particular merger has been public for nearly two years. Even then, that's just T-Mobile. The same hasn't been true for Sprint. That's why Sprint is the one disappearing here with Softbank's stake in the new company being 27% compared to Deutsche Telekom's 42%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I also find it strange that this is reported as a merger more than a buy-out when it's definitely a buy-out. The new company will still be called T-Mobile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 6 minutes ago, Jose said: I also find it strange that this is reported as a merger more than a buy-out when it's definitely a buy-out. The new company will still be called T-Mobile. Merger because Softbank isn't going anywhere. It would only be a full acquisition is Deutsche Telekom completely took Sprint of Softbank's hands. Instead, this is turning into a new company shared by both parties that will run under the T-Mobile name since the Sprint name isn't worth much of anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 So does that can you hear me now guy get to annoy me in T Mobile ads now instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I'm on Boost so I get to move to Dish. Yay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 3 hours ago, Ghost_MH said: Regardless of how T-Mobile is doing, their parent company has shown no interest is owning them. They've been trying to offload them for years now. Other than a merger like this, T-Mobile has no path to reaching the market share of Verizon or AT&T and that seems to be the only thing Deutsche Telekom wanted out of its T-Mobile ownership. Sprint was in a less enviable position where Softbank wasn't very interested in keeping Sprint and they just weren't exciting anyone. Softbank is certainly a company run by a guy that likes flashy things. I don't see why any of that is relevant. The question here isn't how feasible it is for T-Mobile to become as big as their competitors." The question is if they provide meaningful competition at their current market share, and if that competition would lessen should the merger occur. Ever since AT&T was not allowed to buy them, T-Mobile has shown they have very much have the ability to compete in and change the dynamic of the entire market. Not being as big as their competitors doesn't mean they can't grow, and it hasn't hurt their ability to be profitable. Besides, this new company is going to be run by the T-Mobile people, so who cares what the parent companies think or want? Still, the biggest failure of this whole thing is the complete joke of a plan to turn Dish into a fourth competitor. There's just no reason to expect that they'll succeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 40 minutes ago, TwinIon said: I don't see why any of that is relevant. The question here isn't how feasible it is for T-Mobile to become as big as their competitors." The question is if they provide meaningful competition at their current market share, and if that competition would lessen should the merger occur. Ever since AT&T was not allowed to buy them, T-Mobile has shown they have very much have the ability to compete in and change the dynamic of the entire market. Not being as big as their competitors doesn't mean they can't grow, and it hasn't hurt their ability to be profitable. Besides, this new company is going to be run by the T-Mobile people, so who cares what the parent companies think or want? Still, the biggest failure of this whole thing is the complete joke of a plan to turn Dish into a fourth competitor. There's just no reason to expect that they'll succeed. The point was that there's just no reason to assume things would continue the way they are now. Sprint was going to be picked to pieces or sold off as scrap eventually and Deutsche Telekom was going to continue to shop T-Mobile around until it found an administration that was willing to let it happen. Even if Deutsche Telekom all of the sudden became happy with T-Mobile and put to bed any ideas of dropping them, Sprint still wasn't performing and was still being shopped around. What outcome is anyone expecting here? I'd rather it be T-Mobile now than Verizon or AT&T later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 16 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said: The point was that there's just no reason to assume things would continue the way they are now. Sprint was going to be picked to pieces or sold off as scrap eventually and Deutsche Telekom was going to continue to shop T-Mobile around until it found an administration that was willing to let it happen. Even if Deutsche Telekom all of the sudden became happy with T-Mobile and put to bed any ideas of dropping them, Sprint still wasn't performing and was still being shopped around. What outcome is anyone expecting here? I'd rather it be T-Mobile now than Verizon or AT&T later. Where are you getting this notion that they were thinking of dropping T-Mobile? That is totally baseless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 15 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said: The point was that there's just no reason to assume things would continue the way they are now. Sprint was going to be picked to pieces or sold off as scrap eventually and Deutsche Telekom was going to continue to shop T-Mobile around until it found an administration that was willing to let it happen. Even if Deutsche Telekom all of the sudden became happy with T-Mobile and put to bed any ideas of dropping them, Sprint still wasn't performing and was still being shopped around. What outcome is anyone expecting here? I'd rather it be T-Mobile now than Verizon or AT&T later. It wasn't that long ago that AT&T wasn't allowed to buy T-Mobile. It's really not all that unfeasible that the Feds just wouldn't allow either of those two to ever buy T-Mobile. Being a wireless carrier in the US is a pretty good business. T-Mobile finished Q4 with a Net Income up 17% to $751M, $3.5B for the year. That is in no way a company that is destined to fail or be sold. Even if the parent companies of T-Mobile and Sprint did decide to offload them, it was never guaranteed that they get bought by one of their competitors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_MH Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 47 minutes ago, Jose said: Where are you getting this notion that they were thinking of dropping T-Mobile? That is totally baseless. From DT's history of trying to sell T-Mobile? That only called down after the AT&T buy out failed and talk of a merger with Sprint popped up. 25 minutes ago, TwinIon said: It wasn't that long ago that AT&T wasn't allowed to buy T-Mobile. It's really not all that unfeasible that the Feds just wouldn't allow either of those two to ever buy T-Mobile. Being a wireless carrier in the US is a pretty good business. T-Mobile finished Q4 with a Net Income up 17% to $751M, $3.5B for the year. That is in no way a company that is destined to fail or be sold. Even if the parent companies of T-Mobile and Sprint did decide to offload them, it was never guaranteed that they get bought by one of their competitors. No guarantee at all. Like I said, T-Mobile was in a pretty good place, but I don't see how anyone would be up for taking Sprint off SoftBank's hands. For some time people thought maybe they'd be acquired by someone like Apple or Google, but that seemed more and more unlikely as time went on. I'm just not all doom and gloom on this one like so many others are. This isn't a Disney acquiring Fox or Facebook acquiring WhatsApp scenario. This is the distant third competitor in their space gobbling up some faulting competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.