Report: T-Mobile Eyeing Sprint Acquisition

[JMcEntegart]

Here's a nice rumor to start your Monday morning: T-Mobile is thinking of making a bid for Sprint.

Report: T-Mobile Eyeing Sprint Acquisition : Read more

 

[Pei-chen]

T-mobile needs to reduce internet fee for the US market.

 

[AndrewMD]

This should prove to be very interesting once a merger is complete. Maybe just maybe we might have MORE choices in who to choose from.

 

[FlayerSlayer]

So it would become TMobile/Sprint/Nextel? How many more mergers before there's just one big phone company? AT&T already recombined after the anti-monopoly case split it up.

Eh, I don't really care as long as my price doesn't go up.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, countries where we send our jobs to(like India), have strict rules regarding foreign investment, India's first "Walmart" had to be done via an existing Indian company as a proxy. Indians are smart, they engage in job protectionism, just like the US used to.

However, Americans circa 2009 love the consolidation of power, dictatorship, HUGE corporations, monopolies, etc... We get upset when governing bodies get in the way of the consolidation of power, we believe that business should be allowed to do whatever it wants, yet we wouldn't want to move to China.

 

[bigalfantasy2004]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a Sprint customer who's not a fan of Tmobile, if you can't tell.

 

[Guest]

This doesn't make any sense to me... Sprint uses CDMA, T-Mobile uses GSM. Also Sprint spent (about $35 billion IIRC) for the purchase of Nextel, so unless Sprint is in the hole, $10 billion would not be equal to perceived value.
I don't really care either way for the deal, I never had t-Mobile but their plans are cheap compared to AT&T/Verizon, this bit of news just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Andraxxus]

[citation][nom]AndrewMD[/nom]This should prove to be very interesting once a merger is complete. Maybe just maybe we might have MORE choices in who to choose from.[/citation]
This is not the normal 1+1=2 this is 1+1=monopoly

 

[Guest]

andeddfddb: OTOH, sometimes L337 Wall Street investors create "rumors" to manipulate stock prices for their own financial gain. Day trading should be banned, any stock purchase should be required to be kept for atleast a month before selling, you don't provide the company any liquidity if you just sell the stock 15 minutes later.

 

[bk420]

this will be great. I hope this happens and 4G takes over the internet. Cable is just too expensive and contracts are a bummer. However Tmobile phones alway feel/look cheap. Hopefully they will have sprint help design the phones and have tmobiles customer service.

 

[hellwig]

[citation][nom]Andraxxus[/nom]This is not the normal 1+1=2 this is 1+1=monopoly[/citation]

If this was AT&T and Verizon joining together, then yes. However, T-Mobile is #3 and Sprint is #4. Them joining together would probably still leave them in third place (I believe Verizon just bought out Qwest's cell-phone business).

I like the idea, because then I would have better access to 3G. Sprint has the best 3G network, T-Mobile is a little behind the times rolling out to smaller markets.

 

[megamanx00]

The networks are incompatible. It would make sense if they both used the same GSM technology, but otherwise no. Sprint spent extra billions to combine it's network properly with Nextel's well after the initial purchase. If they tried to reduce overhead by combining systems it would require a huge investment. I think it would be cheaper just to crush Sprint than buy them 😀.

 

[astrodudepsu]

Combine two bad companies and what do you get? An even worse company. I hope this isn't true.

 

[webbwbb]

[citation][nom]andeddfddb[/nom]...Sprint spent (about $35 billion IIRC) for the purchase of Nextel, so unless Sprint is in the hole, $10 billion would not be equal to perceived value.I don't really care either way for the deal, I never had t-Mobile but their plans are cheap compared to AT&T/Verizon, this bit of news just doesn't make sense to me.[/citation]

Sprint had about 3 years in a row where they had a major net loss (I believe the largest was $10 billion). After those years of problems they fired their CEO and got someone new who has started to turn the company around but they were VERY close to filing for chapter 11.

 

[agentjon]

So Tmobile who is a GSM service is going to merge with a CDMA and Iden service, all of which are incompatible.

Yeah smart move. If Tmobile makes it where you need to call them to change your phone instead of switching the chip I'll drop them faster than Boostmobile.

Of course if they were to expand on Sprint's femotocell technology I might change my mind.

 

[Guest]

@Hellwig

Don't forget (for the US market anyway) that Verizon also bought Alltell, whose main market was in the North East (coincidentally also the first to offer the 'faves' plans, where you get to pick 10 numbers to talk with unlimited minutes). They were quite large in their respective market (I remember though when they had issues with people selected their home VOIP in their '10' and then using that to dial anyone they wanted for free).

The only good side I see in buying up companies is that there is uniformity (which that's only my opinion). I see more downsides, such as: Yeah, the more people on the same network, the more people I can talk with for free (except there will be a breaking point. If everyone is in the network then no one will buy minutes. They will have to increase the base prices of the plans or cease giving unlimited minutes on in-network calls, or charging extra for that feature, which AT&T already did back when they split their network and changed their unlimited minutes to apply to mobile-to-mobile only, and offering unlimited minutes to land-lines for an extra fee).

All I think about is: people in other countries are spending less for the same type of services (or even better). While people in other countries probably pay more for services we in the US might take for granted.

 

[Major7up]

[citation][nom]FlayerSlayer[/nom]So it would become TMobile/Sprint/Nextel?[/citation]
And lets not forget that Sprint recently gobbled up Virgin Mobile as well.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Sprint isn't exactly in great financial shape.

 

[nakrah]

It would become T-Mobile with Sprint Speed, Together with Nextel.

 

[Caffeinecarl]

As a T-Mobile subscriber, I hope this doesn't happen. Competition is good.