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Sprint And MetroPCS About To Announce Merger – Board Of Directors Pulls The Plug

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Somethings going on at Sprint. Apparently, Dan Hesse and co. were about to announce a merger today with Metro PCS to the tune of $8 billion and just hours away from going public, Sprint’s Board of Directors pulled the plug. This doesn’t bode well for CEO Dan Hesse who was essentially vetoed by the board. Could Sprint be up to something else? Lord knows they need all the help they can get. We’ll keep you updated.

[Twitter 1, Twitter 2 | Via Engadget]

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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57 Comments

  1. Metro was working to get their LTE network , so maybe that’s the reason?!

    1. Metro has had an LTE network before Verizon, way back in 2010.  They also had the world’s first LTE Android, the Samsung Galaxy Indulge — before Verizon or anyone else in the entire world.  It’s Sprint that is now working on their LTE network, having seen the light that WiMax is dead.

      1. That’s not saying much.  Look at Verizon’s LTE buildout.  Now look at Metro’s.  Putting up 3 towers isn’t that much of an accomplishment. :/

      2.  The only problem with Metro, is that their phones are so-so, even their high-enders.

  2. Spectrum, LTE, customers, opportunity, and more coverage. I would have been an overall win for Metro customers and Sprint.

  3. Good luck with that, sprint…

  4. I am sure ATT would support it because Sprint was so supportive of their merger with Tmobile lol

  5. Would have been a definite win for customers.

  6. I just got out of my sprint contract, they took away my yearly upgrade, my monthly bil went up by $35 and the data speed is in the toilet. Good bye, and FU sprint.

    1. Good choice ..I went thru the exact same thing..FU sprint!!!!!!FU!

    2. hello tmo

      1. I would be on T-Mo in a minute, but that coverage.. ouch!  I might as well carry around a tablet and rely on wifi

        1. Aww that sucks, tmobile is great where I live. At least theres wifi calling

        2. Kind of like AT&T?

    3.  Data speeds are on par with other carriers in my area… despite the other issues you listed, they’re still cheaper than any other carrier, who haven’t offered an annual upgrade almost as long as I can remember.

    4. I just left as well.  3G speeds were a joke, no yearly upgrades and my next phone would be LTE with barely any buildout yet.  Sprint and I are on a break and I’m seeing other people now.  

    5. ouch! how did your bill go up 35 bucks? Mine went about $5 or 6.   I’m only paying 180 for 3 unlimited lines (tax, fees and insurance Included).  And Network Vision is looking impressive… glad to be where I am.

    6. What a baby, damn you’re mad at Sprint for taking yearly upgrades, 35 dollar increase which you left unexplained, wait til AT&T or Verizon get a hold to you, and throttle back your data speeds. T-mobile service is about the same as Sprint! sounds like a lateral move to me. No one company have a the perfect fix.

      1. T-Mobile gets insanely faster internet than Sprint.  No doubt about it. and T-Mobile is cheaper.  Plus T-Mobile has WiFi Calling.

        1.  Of course they have wifi calling…how else can you make a phone call if their network isnt avail?

          1. No carrier has perfect reception everywhere.

            Between the national carrier: Verizon, at&t, Sprint, and T-Mobile  there are areas where they all perform better than their competition.

            WiFi Calling is one of the greatest things in the industry and is only used by T-Mobile in the US.

            When the hurricane hit the east coast about a year and a half ago pretty much EVERY wireless carrier lost reception in various areas due to weather conditions.  Since WiFi is though hardwired cable lines, I was able to make all the calls and texts I needed to via WiFi Calling while my buddies with Verizon twiddled their thumbs.   

        2. I have skype. Big deal.

          1. VOIP, like Skype, is cruder than T-Mobile’s WiFi Calling.  T-Mobile has true telephony through the internet. The WiFi connection is your cell tower so it’s just your regular number when you are calling and texting.  Plus most VOIP services charge you to dial out to phone numbers.  Plus if towers go out, no one can reach you at YOUR number.  With T-Mobile, they CAN.
            That’s why WiFi Calling is an amazing feature and having T-Mobile gives you access to it.  If other carriers adopt WiFi Calling, then we’ll talk, but for now it’s one of the reasons T-Mobile is one of the BEST carrier options out there.

            The real problem is uninformed people who probably never even HEARD of WiFi Calling before, let alone understand it. (kind of like you)

      2. Sounds like operator error.  I have had Sprint since 1998 and I have never had any issues. 

  7. MetroPCS is doing fine on their own, I think it should remain that way. I rather see 5 national competitors vs 4. Just my opinion.

    1. Is Metro a national carrier?  I’ve never seen their stuff here on the east coast (MD, VA, DC, PA)

      1. they’re not out in Arizona either

  8. Metro PCS customers should be breathing a sigh of relief. 

    1. LOL! That’s cold, Scott… xD

      1. I know you like’em Chris, and won’t badmouth anyone who has them and had a good experience, but mine has been…less than satisfactory. But I’m a crabby pants anyway lol. 

        1.  I like Sprint as well, which is probably why I would have supported the deal. Sprint would have taken control of another 200MHz of spectrum, which is probably the biggest part of the deal. However, there must have been something the board disagreed with since they did not approve the buyout.

  9. I’d say the board made a wise decision in this case given the failed merger of ATT/Tmobile. Funny how everybody was crying about how ATT would raise prices if the merger went through. Hmmm…., I wonder who will end up covering the 4bil break-up fee for the failed merger?

    1. That’s probably why AT&T is throttling their customers at 2GB. LoL!!

      They shoulda let this merger go through.

      1.  Try 3 GB.  AT&T is hemorrhaging with money.

  10. Maybe metro and T-Mobile should merge this could give T-Mobile a better advantage

    1. I think that’s been talked about but their networks aren’t really compatible (CDMA/GSM)

      1. I think Tmo could be into it for the AWS spectrum metro has.  Now that they’ve committed to LTE they badly need more spectrum.  The whole cdma thing is a non issue, they could just have people on metro exchange phones for comparable handsets.  Also T-Mobile’s plans that involve refarming spectrum so at&t phones get 3G involves multi-mode base stations that will have gsm, hspa+ aws, hspa+ pcs (iphone compatible), and LTE aws.  I’m no engineer but who’s to say they couldn’t keep the cdma network intact for a while and move people over to gsm over time.  Similar to Sprint with nextel.

    2. Given their networks are not compatible and T-Mo doesn’t have the cash to do it, I don’t see how it wouldn’t spell disaster for both companies.

      1. true t mobile is gsm and metro is cdma

      2. DT and T-Mobile have way more cash than Sprint.  Sprint loses in the billions net every year while T-Mobile USA on its own always makes money… even now while they are losing customers.

        I think a T-Mobile/Metro could work with their recent plans for LTE in 2013.  Metro uses AWS for LTE and Metro owns AWS spectrum which is what T-Mobile badly needs to get LTE nationwide.  $8 billion for metro from DT seems possible.

  11. remember at@t is gsm so is t-mobile  every other network is cdma metro sprint Verizon and others 
    don’t make fun of my name i am not a terrorist ok

    1. Then why would you point that out? That makes you look more suspicious. And a terrorist is a person who attacks someone else’s country.

       That’s lyk when ppL come up to me at the Cash Register, and when I’m checking to see if the $100 bill is fake, they go “I just printed it out today. Hahahaa.” Yea… Funny, but it makes you seem more suspicious. Lyk you’re trying to throw me off with a joke. -_-

      1. “a terrorist is a person who attacks someone else’s country”?
        say what? ever heard of the unibomber? anthrax in the mail post 9/11? 

  12. Att would give them hell for cockblocking the Tmobile merger anyway

  13. I understand that T-Mobile and metro are different GSM and cdma but maybe the phone manufacturers can make a GSM / cdma phone kind of like the world phone. As for the ATT deal I’m glad it failed I have ATT and it would only be worse kind of like ma bell in the 70’s and 80’s that the government broke up

  14. Haha 2 joke networks

  15. T-Mobile is a non factor here in west fl because there is no service att is barely above them .. sprint you have service everywhere around here but data is iffy Verizon is good at both but the $$ is the big thing. So many pros and cons all over with them all

  16. hahaha Sprint are such dopes.  I hope they continue to crash and burn.  Them and T-fumble should just disappear.

    1. Oh, so you want your phone bill to go up another $100 a month from V or A and you want to see the same exact phones for 3-4 years at a time.

      You realize that competition is a good thing, no? Are you stupid or just ignorant?

  17. Yea i work at sprint im actually at work right now lol but anyways i had verizon my whole life up until bout a year ago when i started workin for sprint and i gta say ill probly never switch carriers unless sprint goes to tiered data plans. i promise you this isn’t a bias opinion (is that how to spell bias? lol) I get awesome coverage for calls and data wherever im at. i pay $40 less a month then i did with verizon while getting more (plan-wise) AND the best part of all….UNLIMITED DATA, its amazing cuz i use my phone all the f****ng time. only thing i don’t like is how limited we are on top-of-the-line phones. like galaxy s 2, moto photon, iphone 4s, and evo 3d are our only dual-core phones, and the nexus s is the only one with ICS 4.0 (but the gs2 is gettin it soon) and on top of that we’re slackin’ hard in the tablet game but my xoom is thru verizon ;). so plan-features and especially $$-wise, at the end of the day sprints the shit!

    1. Yeah, that’s how you spell bias, but you would say that you had a biased opinion. 

    2. If you had Verizon your whole life, then you would have Unlimited Data with Verizon as well… Sprint’s network is SLOW.  Verizon’s LTE network is unbeatable.

  18. A merger with T-Mobile makes a lot more sense because they are a GSM network.  I’d appreciate the added coverage when I travel to those cities with MetroPCS.

    1. ?  that makes no sense.  MetroPCS is CDMA + LTE.

      _________

      To refresh your memory:

      Verizon is CDMA + LTE.

      Sprint is CDMA + WiMax and now + LTE.

      AT&T is GSM + LTE.

      T-Mobile is GMS and will be getting LTE.

  19. I wouldn’t want this to go through as a MetroPCS customer I’m hell of happy without a contract and the 4G from MetroPCS is good and with their 3G or not whatever you want to call it is good enough for me to read, play games, and use facebook or twitter whatever it may be just not youtube but not like i care i have a computer if i want to watch something and the gps is just as good to use with their 3G i never had any problems with it, and i’m happy to not be with boostmobile and virgin mobile; sprint should have planned out to use LTE in the first place instead of wasting money on that garbge wimax and now people that got wimax phone when their LTE phones come are gonna have to waste money on that instead of just having lte in the first place.

  20. I love sprint and their unlimited data plans. The speed is fast enough and the price is right. I’m just waiting for a great new EVO handset!!

  21. A year left on my Sprint contract, whether I go back to T-Mo will be dependent upon what phones either has next January.  The only thing I really like about Sprint is their unlimited data, but unfortunately I get next to no data in my home, but it works in my car so I can still stream Google Music.  The Epic 4G Touch has been the best phone I’ve ever owned, but I don’t really think Sprint will keep Wimax alive much longer, so I’ll have to wait and see what happens.

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