By 
What is one way the number three and number four wireless carriers in the US might plan on take a bigger claim over the airwaves? By means of a merger. A new report is claiming Sprint is in talks with Deutsche Telekom to buy out their stake in T-Mobile, though no deals have been struck. Talks have apparently been going back and forth for some time now, but disagreements on the value of T-Mobile may mean nothing ever comes of the discussions.
Deutsche Telekom isn’t denying the reports, saying that “all options are open” when it comes to how the company will move forward with their US branch of T-Mobile. If a deal is made with Sprint, DT could reportedly hold up to a 50 percent stake in the resulting merger, leaving them far from removed from the equation.
[via BusinessWeek]
i think it would be a good move for both parties personally
It’s worked out well for Verizon and Vodafone to work as a partnership… and certainly people will say “more competition, not less”… but what about more competitive competition? Both networks could be utilized as a base, and T-Mo’s nationwide AWS spectrum could be harnessed for LTE just as VZW and AT&T are doing with their holdings in AWS… and/or Sprint’s iDEN at 800 could be used for LTE to compete with the 700 holdings of the other 2 companies..
The only thing is… who has a stronger brand name in the US? Probably neither…
Nooooooooo.
Lets take a look. CDMA took Iden….hurt all them bad. Now, CDMA to take over GSM? What are they thinking
Ugh, hates Sprint, hates Sprint forever…
Sprint should be taking a look at US Cellular. It would give them a bigger footprint in the regional areas.
No! Should not be allowed!
We need more competition not less.
Broadband rates need to go down somehow. The government won’t do it. They’ll subsidize farmers to keep corn prices stable so we can have an endless supply of cheap high fructose corn syrup. Metro PCS can give the same service as Verizon for half the price…we need companies trying to match their price and not letting the big Mofo’s keep the competition away by buying up the smaller guys (Altel)
We must say no.
Sprint is King!!! This would be awesome. I think. Bigger is better, right?
Yesss!!! Finally maybe a world phone from Sprint.
I wonder what Richard has to say about this….
Does this actually surprise anyone? For quite awhile now, this has come up in the comment threads and the forums. I’m surprised it took this long for it to come to the surface. I think it’s a win-win. As I stated in another thread, I just don’t see the US supporting more than 3 nationwide carriers at once (after a few years). I’d be surprised if US Cellular wasn’t looking at say, MetroPCS since they’ve been aggressively trying to grow. I think eventually, there will be 3, *possibly* four major carriers as smaller companies merge, larger companies buy smaller or ailing companies. Look at how many cell providers trhere were 5 years ago that no longer exist – Cingular and NexTel for two examples. They were both bought and absorbed by their parent companies. For the record – I was glad to see NexTel start to die, there are few things more aggravating than being in a store, or sitting in a doctors office, and some ignorant moron starts having a conversation about nothing on their phone and as an added bonus, you get to hear their retard friend as well AND the screeching from the radios. Almost as annoying as people who walk around with a bluetooth constantly in their ear no matter where they are thinking it makes them look cool and important, when in reality they look like idiots who should be beaten with hammers until the hammers break.
@tom
“Bigger is better” ? your insane! You ever notice how oil companies seem to have two names…conoco phillips, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil…mergers are not always good for the consumer. XOM is making 11.7 Billion a qtr. you want more competition not less. You don’t want a Big Red giving 6 percent of YOUR MONEY back to the stock holders every Qtr and another 20 percent back to Madison Avenue.
“Cheap ultra fast broadband” NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/business/06digi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=hong%20kong%20&st=cse
China has it…we need it too. And this is not the way.
@ jroc – likely something in caps about how this is Sprint’s first step in taking over all telecommunications and ushering in a new age of peace and prosperity. I’m sure he’ll post something. I stopped reading his posts abhout a week ago when I realized that he is differently abled. I thought he was a kid joking around…
As long as it stays GSM and doesn’t go to a tiered model and the prices don’t go up I’m okay with this.
See? I knew somebody would pop up with the more competition not less line of BS. If 2 of the 4 “major” carriers can not compete with the 2 largest, because it’s a game of spectrum, not price, then creating a 3rd that actually has spectrum would be “more”… addition by subtraction.
Man O Man… This @Dj is a total CLOWN. Trying to act so sophisticated as if he’s the smartest guy on Phandroid I sure would love to see your ugly face in person. Meanwhile this is nothing new and might happen any moment now. Sprint drives a hard bargain and right now tmobile is in MAJOR TROUBLE.. It’s clear that sprint is moving further with wimax that issue is clearly rectified by the look of all these new 4g devices launching on my home network. I give them tmobile 8months to SELL. Sprint is in the drivers seat already owning Virgin mobile and Boost and this will help them meaning tmobile to get better devices on there network.
With sprint and tmobile merger, they could use the prepaid
companies that sprint owns, to move either cdma or gsm to. Then the post paid could operate on 1 network. That could solve Boost mobiles issues, when iDen finally goes away.
DT should just put the money into tmobile to make it great. They do it in the UK, why not here? If they sell off Tmobile, they will lose 25% of their income. I think they should fix up the ship instead of letting it sink.
@dj lmfao, I knew something was wrong with Richard. And this explains everything, he is definitely differently abled. Although I have been impressed recently Richard figured out that you can turn off the caps lock.
What a horrible idea. Spring already had massive problems integrating NexTel, and I think T-Mobile is far more different in terms of corporate culture and target demographics. I love T-Mobile and have never understood Sprint, so please, please, please DT, don’t do it.
What will customers gain from Sprint-Mobile?
I love T-Mobile and think they have great staff and customer service. I’ve also always been satisfied with my service coverage (except for the fact that I lose 4g at my desk and only at my desk). Sprint, not so much.
I really fail to see how TMobile is in “major trouble”. TMobile is a great company and dont hear many people complaining like they do about, lets say, AT&T.
If a merger takes place, I just hope the customer doesnt get shafted with any major changes. TMobile does a great job keeping loyal customers happy. Like my $20/mo unlimited 4g!
lol @ the Tmobile user swooning. Reality sets in….
I wouldn’t have a problem with T-Mobile solidifying their financial position, but I would fear that their best quality — their excellent customer service — would take a hit if it were taken over completely, by Sprint or a more customer-hostile provider (coughat&tcough). If Sprint *partners* with them and the same people remain in charge of their CS, then it might turn out okay.
At least Sprint will have a sexy spokesperson! And…if you can’t bet’em, join’em! sprinTmobile
@B2L… Are you and Dj brothers and sisters??? we all would like to know.
The thing is, neither of them have rural coverage. A merger wouldnt expand their coverage area, or “potential customers”.
I dont think Sprint customers will lose out at all. Worst Case, We get some more of T-Mobile Customer Service department. T-Mobile Customers FINALLY get real phones and not get nickeled and dimed for plans. Plus REAL Coverage.
@Steven Skwarkowski…. Tmobile has nothing but problems and issues on many fronts. Just because you don’t that don’t tmobile is problem free. Just venture off on there facebook page or twitter page and find out the truth about your problem free tmo
Less choices and competition?
No good
This would suck. If they moved away from GSM I would not be able to use unlocked phones like I am right now! Plus t-mobile has the best prices! I pay $30 a month for 1500 minutes! At&t probably charges double that! The reason I have t-mobile is they have a lot of reasonable plans for cheap that I can use an unlocked phone with. They get rid of that I probably go to at&t.
now they only have to make 1 version of the nexus for US lol
This will mean it will be easier for them to switch to Tiered data with no unlimited option.
Can you imagine having fast true 4G with WiMax or LTE on SpriT-Mobile but also having 5mbps on 3G thanks to T-mobile’s network.
I think it will be a bad move. I love T-Mobile and their HSPDA+ technology. They cater to the poor man in terms of phones, data and plans. I will DT to help in establishing it more to compete with the other big three by getting more high powered phones, building and extending their services to many areas in the US and if possible Canada too as well.
Omg ew. Lol i hope this really stays a rumor.
I left Sprint due to the horrible customer
service and i will so switch to At&t or Verizon
if true.
no thank you.
sprint stay away.
Originally posted this as an Engadget comment:
For those having trouble connecting the dots:
Sprint has partnered with Lightsquared ( LTE satellite/terrestrial)
Sprint is trying to acquire T-Mobile (which was interested in building their own LTE network)
Sprint’s iDen network could make more room for LTE (they have been killing it off slowly)
Now that leaves their CDMA network which could be upgraded or just handy down to their own MNVO Virgin Mobile.
More carriers in the US actually hurts customer mobility right now because we have competing technologies. It’s extremely difficult to use a CDMA phone with a carrier other than the one it is branded for. And AT&T and T-Mobile have incompatible 3G. Until we get a single technology so customers can truly buy a phone that works with any service provider like we can for POTS or cable/dsl internet, than we just don’t have a competitive market in the US, period. My hope for a Sprint/T-Mobile merger would be to solidify LTE as the single technology moving forward. I just hope we end up with a single set of frequencies and not repeat the 3G split that AT&T and T-Mobile have here.
Bad news for consumers IMO. The more carriers and competition, the better off we are.
HELLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Verizon
Sprint CDMA call quality with LTE data speeds? I think this is an excellent idea.
If it happens, they will be buying an empty spot.. I will immediately switch to AT&T. I am with T Mobile because of GSM. T Mobiles decision making as to technology have been sensible, and led to AT&T making some better moves in their upgrade path. I know you Sprint users like Sprints choices, but I don’t. I could only live with this if Sprint dropped CDMA and WiMax and committed to emulating the road AT&T is taking GSM/HSPA+/LTE .. All four carriers work great in my area, and as to customer service.. well haven’t had to use any, so that doesn’t factor (What do you people need to call customer service for ?).. For me I want GSM, and to be able to go elsewhere in the world and have my phone work. (Even if it infrequent)
@jdog
Yeah in the spotty areas tmobile actually has coverage
TMobile may be a great in urban areas, but their coverage absolutely stinks in small towns and rural areas. I have be waiting for 3G for two years, to no avail. Even their 2g is non existent unless you happen to be next to the TMobile store. Perhaps the merger could help TMobile in this regard.
A Sprint/T-Mobile merger? Wow haven’t hear this one before…
In my area Sprint sucks compared to T-Mobile. If this happened and my reception changed, Verizon here I come.
i work for uscc there is NO way that they would accept a merger with sprint remember when verizon picked up alltel that is because they were turned down by us cellular now think about it if us cellular turned down verizon why would they accept from sprint with the belief project launching last october and then that project bringing in over 1 million customers us cellular needs no help
@DJ–
Do you doubt the power of the Sprint? With the merging of the Sprint and the T- Mobile, the dawn of a new age IS upon us. Once the great entities coalesce into a superior being the people of the world will erupt in jubilation, the leaders of man will bow and sing praises. There will be no more hunger, no more sick children. During the day the sky will emanate yellow, the color of the Father, and at night it will be magenta, the color of the Mother. As foretold in the prophecy, the EVO will be inseminated with the seed of of the Galaxy S II, birthing the one known as the Godphone, the savior… the son of Man. AMEN.
This tends to pop up every other month.
With that being said I hope that this DOES NOT HAPPEN.
We need more competition plus does Sprint really need to manage another wireless?
If they do merge I hope Sprint keeps their call quality. I don’t care much for dropped calls.
Hopefully this will mean the end of pink phones for tweens and more superphones.
Yes!!! No more T-Mobile fanboys!!! Best news of the day. Die T-Mobile, die.
Boy, I hope that doesn’t happen. Sprint service is a joke in my area, and I live in the heart of chicago. It was always a chore to call my sprint and nextel friends….. Half of the time id call, I’d get ” please wait while the nextel/sprint subscriber your are trying to reach is being located” well they were never located and it went to their voicemail, in which most of the time they never got, same issue with texts. My friends thought I was full of it until I called their phone, in front of them, and the same thing happened…. If a merger does occur, I hope to god they leave tmos network alone….tmo isn’t astounding either in terms of calls, but at least when I actually get good reception, my friends know they won’t have to wait while I’m being “located.” don’t screw this up tmo, or its back to vzw I go….
@ Frank. Don’t blame your network. Your “friends” just do not want to talk to you. They had your number blocked. I’ve had both services and have had customer service problems with both. At this time I have Sprint and love their service in all aspects. Go SprinT-Mobile!
He said Sprint may control a 50% share in T-mobile. (Like Vodephone/Verizon). T-mobile has great customer service. Sprint has bad customer service (last time I checked).
Frank, I work in the Chicago Loop….Washington and Dearborn and the service is teriffic. I can talk in elevators and in the underground mall. I live on the North Shore and the service is top notch. 4G all the way!
@RIchard Yarrell, how about learning how to spell and use proper grammar before you try to bust on somebody about trying to look sophisticated.
BIg man on the internet forum, that being you, RIchard, is probably a 14 year old kid that gets beat up every day at school… by girls.
*BIg
Bah! stupid shift button… now I look like an ass. haha
Dugh!! I don’t want Sprint!! I don’t want to be on Wi-Max. It drains your battery. As long as I kan keep my SIM card phones, because it’s easy to go on the streets and like trade your phone instead of having to buy a new phone, take it to Sprint, switching phones, then selling your old phone. I hope I can still use SIM card phones and don’t have to use Wi-Max, unless it doesn’t uber drain your battery anymore. LoL!! Tmo has ghetto 4G, so it’s Fo-G, and I wanna stay on that Fo-G. LoL!!
Notice how NO ONE ON TMOBILE WANTS THIS but everyone on Sprint sucks… cuz sprint has proven to suck in pricing, customer care, mediocre in service and terrible in Updates of ANDROID. excuse my french but HE** NO WE WONT GO!!!!!
What’s Sprints coverage like in London, Barcelona, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Prague ? .. Sprint phone vs Tin can and string.
@dirt pay attention. Their network, not mine, was the problem. Secondly, 4 friends switched to tmo/vzw after their problems, never had that problem again, had no problems calling them after their switch. Third, your insults lead me to believe you are both immature and and maybe a little stupid. You didn’t like what I had to say, so you cried about it, bashing a stranger, for no other reason than that the anonymity of the internet let’s you do so. Difference of opinion is fine, but handle it like jeff did, which was respectful. Your small minded insults ruins any credibility that you mau have. It’s because of trash like you on the internet that takes the fun out of participating on forums. I have had my experiences, you have had yours. Simple as that.
You really gotta love the pointless argument over the carriers. Mine is better than yours. I’ve used just about all of them and they’ve all had pros and cons. Right now I’m on Sprint because I received the best deal for my family plan and they had the phone I wanted. If they don’t come out with something else I like soon I’ll likely switch again. I sure haven’t had the CS issues or bad coverage you all talk about with any of the carriers. I guess some people just make themselves feel better by putting things down they don’t use.
@v8dreaming….DOPE……
@Matt – that was awesome! Well written, sir! I haven’t laughed that hard in weeks. Praise be to SprinTmoEVO! Lmao.
@DJ
Happy you liked it! I’ve been lurking around this site for awhile and usually get a good laugh from the things you write about Richard. My post was inspired by the stuff you write, lol. Got almost 30 likes over at engadget with the same post.
Good day sir!
at dj……………..retard huh
Yes! Sprint and T mobile together! Yes!