American regulators are on the fence over a possible merger of Sprint and T-Mobile amid worries that a potential deal proposed involving Sprint's parent company, SoftBank, would reduce the number of top wireless carriers from four to three.
However, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says in an interview there is new movement that he hopes will give new life to the deal.
He argued the merger would be positive for American customers, repeating previous statements that the merged companies would be able to deliver more efficient and faster service to their customers and would likely be able to compete against the other two big carriers: AT&T and Verizon.
"We can make it more effective by getting bigger scale," he said during the interview session with reporters. "Us becoming a more credible competitor in scale is something good for American consumers and citizens."
The merger would be in line with SoftBank's continued quest to be the global leader in Internet and hopes that a merger with T-Mobile will help boost its footprint in the United States, where Verizon and AT&T continue to dominate the market. Son purchased Sprint, the third largest U.S. carrier, last year.
According to previous reports, Sprint is to pay T-Mobile $40 a share, which would value the company at $32 billion, but the fine details of the agreement have not been made public as the two sides are negotiating a number of factors, including financing options and termination fees.
At a conference recently, Son -- who goes publicly as Masa Son -- lashed out at the main operators AT&T and Verizon, arguing they have a pseudo-monopoly on the market and that if his company and T-Mobile were to merge, it would help to increase speeds and lower prices. It would be a win-win, he argued.
"We're going to provide better speed and lower prices," he vowed in his comments, which did not specifically name T-Mobile, but were apparent in his discussion.
He added that he hopes the FCC and other regulatory bodies in the U.S. will see the positives from the merger and the increased competition, which he argues would reduce customer's costs and help to increase overall functionality and connectivity.
But that could be an uphill battle against regulators, who have not shied away from stating their desire to maintain at least four major carriers in the country. The merger, as argued by Son, would be a boost for the sector and help consumers, not hurt them.
