SoftBank will back out of Sprint & T-Mobile merger yet again

Rumors of a Sprint and T-Mobile merger have been swirling for months now, with the most recent rumors suggesting that the two companies were close to finalizing talks and that the Department of Justice could have some opposition to the two companies joining together.

However, the latest news is that Sprint owner SoftBank has called off negotiations between the two companies as they were unable to come to an agreement on ownership of the combined company. The report says that SoftBank will suggest ending talks with T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom by Tuesday. An agreement had been struck to merge the two companies, but Deutsche Telekom’s insistence on a controlling stake was too much for SoftBank’s board.

Sprint is the fourth largest carrier in the United States and this isn’t the first time a Sprint and T-Mobile merger has been on the table. The last time was back in 2014 when SoftBank wanted to buy T-Mobile but ran afoul of regulators. Since then, T-Mobile has become a much more valuable company thanks to the carrier’s Uncarrier branding efforts.