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Another Day, Another Report Claiming Sprint T-mobile Deal Close

For months now we've seen endless reports stating that Sprint owner SoftBank and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom were on the precipice of finalizing details on the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, yet an official announcement never seems to materialize. The latest "the deal is close and we mean it this time" leak comes courtesy of Japanese business publication Nikkei, which states, the two companies are just ironing out a few, last minute wrinkles. The report claims SoftBank will buy more than 50% of T-Mobile shares through Sprint from Deutsche Telekom, SoftBank paying cash and using stock swaps to cover the estimated purchase cost of more than 1.7 trillion yen ($16 billion).

Update: Meanwhile Bloomberg notes that SoftBank is asking banks to commit to financing for a "longer-than-usual amount of time," suggesting Masayoshi Son expects quite a protracted regulatory approval process.
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IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

1 recommendation

IPPlanMan

Member

Doesn't have to happen....

This merger is so unnecessary.

T-Mobile has the ability to build out with low frequency spectrum it got from Verizon and will likely get in upcoming auctions.

Sprint doesn't need this to happen either since their service areas largely overlap and since Sprint just made native roaming agreements with rural providers.

whfsdude
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Washington, DC

1 recommendation

whfsdude

Premium Member

Re: Doesn't have to happen....

said by IPPlanMan:

This merger is so unnecessary.

I see this merger as nothing more than a move to reduce competition and drive up prices.

Sprint is sitting on this massive swath of Clearwire spectrum in so many markets and doing absolutely nothing with it. Instead they have data plans that are worse than T-Mobile.

If Masayoshi Son wanted to shake up the US market he would already be doing so.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: Doesn't have to happen....

Right!!! And Sprint is the one who cried about TMO-USA and T's merger claiming they needed another carrier to keep prices low. And the day after the merger was denied was the day they raised their prices on VM.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan
Would rather not see it go through but some analysts are now saying that of the 3 big upcoming mergers (TWC/Comcast, ATT/DirecTV), the S/Tmo deal is most likely to be approved by Feds at this point. Word is the Feds are starting to lean towards allowing it. The GOP have been on board and now some DEMs are leaning towards it. This country is run by lobbyists. Given that ATT/VZW don't oppose it....
wispalord
join:2007-09-20
Farmington, MO

wispalord to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan
I have worked for sprint they just want tmobile for their customers because that will put them in a different league with that customer base and they get more tax breaks when there larger ... its all about the customers they give a shit less about the network they cant even use it

bunchybunch
@171.159.192.x

bunchybunch

Anon

i doubt it will get approved by the fed

sprint just needs to focus on building their network. its horrible...they just horde spectrum and sit on it...not sure what GSM and CDMA have in common for sprint..they need a massive overhaul.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: i doubt it will get approved by the fed

They are continually building it out but there are still too many gaps. They announce markets that have 70% of sites with LTE, which doesn't cut it.

Am hoping the merger is not improved, which will force Son to finish the Spark rollout. It works great where it's fully deployed.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Sprint Coverage Maps not updated since June 13th

It's worth noting Sprint's coverage maps haven't been updated since June 13th..

»coverage.sprint.com/IMPA ··· G:HE:Cov

SteelerRaw
@8.28.150.x

SteelerRaw

Anon

Re: Sprint Coverage Maps not updated since June 13th

said by IPPlanMan:

It's worth noting Sprint's coverage maps haven't been updated since June 13th..

Just for comparisons sake, when is the last time that T-Mobile's, AT&T's and Verizon's respective coverage maps were updated?

delusion ftl
@172.56.38.x

delusion ftl

Anon

Re: Sprint Coverage Maps not updated since June 13th

T-mobile was about a week ago

SteelerRaw
@8.28.150.x

SteelerRaw

Anon

Re: Sprint Coverage Maps not updated since June 13th

said by delusion ftl :

T-mobile was about a week ago

Really? Where is that indicated at?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan to SteelerRaw

Member

to SteelerRaw
No idea... You think it's more than a month?

SteelerRaw
@8.28.150.x

SteelerRaw

Anon

Re: Sprint Coverage Maps not updated since June 13th

said by IPPlanMan:

No idea... You think it's more than a month?

I honestly couldn't even begin to guess. However, it seems like you want to make this into a big issue. If so, it would only be fair to also note the date of their peers in the industry most recent update as well as how often they typically update their coverage maps as frame of reference imo.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Sprint Coverage Maps not updated since June 13th

I'm not making it into anything. Verizon has already overlaid LTE onto its 3G footprint. We get updates from AT&T about new LTE market launches. T-Mobile is aggressively updating its towers to LTE.

Sprint has been very quiet as of late. No new LTE launches. No new Spark markets.

Still no official launch by Sprint of LTE in DC....
IPPlanMan

IPPlanMan

Member

Sprint's Coverage Maps were finally updated on July 23rd...

»coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?

Look at how officially deployed LTE Coverage literally stops at the Northwest DC border....

THXULTRA
@38.103.109.x

THXULTRA

Anon

Sprint should focus on there Network

Sprint's data network is awful. Even in big cities I often get 3g service. I should be on LTE 100% of the time in Chicago but I would say I'm only on LTE 20% of the time and Chicago is a Spark city. T-Mobile has solid service in Chicago. Really hoping this doesn't go through because it is just going to take away the only other low cost option to Sprint. I have Sprint and I will tell you now don't do it you will regret it.
qworster
join:2001-11-25
Bryn Mawr, PA

4 edits

qworster

Member

I hope that Sprint doesn't get them!

I have been a loyal Sprint customer for over 15 years (even BEFORE I got their cellular in 5/1999 I had them for long distance) - and I am finding them really SUCKING over the past year! Dropped calls are WAY up - customer service SUCKS (it's worse then I can ever remember it) - they cut down their grace period for billing from 35 to 29 days and their computer cuts you off on day 30 in the middle of the night, no matter what your payment history is. Back in May I went an entire week where no one I called could hear me - and it wasn't just me, it also happened to my wife's phone at the same time (and no it wasn't related to the cell - it happened when we were 30 miles apart).

SoftBank has made them a far worse company then they ever have been. My daughter is in the process of porting out and the rest of us are right behind her!

DIE SPRINT!

atuarre
Here come the drums
Premium Member
join:2004-02-14
EC/SETX SWLA

atuarre

Premium Member

Re: I hope that Sprint doesn't get them!

While I agree things are shitty, I do not think that SoftBank has made them this way. They took SoftBanks money and were supposed to be spending it on their network but I don't think all that money SoftBank gave them went towards network improvements. There is absolutely no way. Like I have said before, Son needs to just decide to get rid of Hesse (maybe he does not want pay Hesse -- cause Hesse is likely has an employment contract) and get most of the Americans out of there and bring in Japanese to run the company, and I'll bet they will get that ship righted real quick.

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

chip89

Premium Member

Remember

This Merger does't have to happen I think the merger should not happen. Remember that Sprint is the one that made T-mobile in the first place!
xrobertcmx
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
White Plains, MD

xrobertcmx

Premium Member

I know Sprint thinks they will get a lot of new customers

But I will probably jump ship the day after it happens. T-Mobile doesn't have contracts anymore, and I don't owe them anything on my phone.
Cobra11M
join:2010-12-23
Mineral Wells, TX

Cobra11M

Member

Re: I know Sprint thinks they will get a lot of new customers

agreed, T-Mobile users are all or for the most part (except very very few metro users) GSM.. the moment this happens Sprint will say ok yall need to upgrade to a CDMA phone.. which most T-Mobile users wont do or care for doing.. some of them brought there phone from other companies such as AT&T.. whats Sprints idea then? if they cant offer any incentives on such a deal these customers will flee in droves to MVNO's owned by AT&T or others.. Sprint wont be able to hold on to these customers because no contracts..

I for one dont plan on buying a new darn phone.. i already got one and dont want another.. unless you want to trade me sprint i didnt think so lol..