The T-Mobile and Sprint merger finally pushed through after the third try, combining the two telecommunications companies into a legitimate challenger for rivals AT&T and Verizon.
The business side of the transaction dives into some very technical details, but most subscribers would just want to know how the T-Mobile and Sprint merger affects them.
T-Mobile And Sprint Merger Finally Happens
T-Mobile agreed to purchase Sprint for $26 billion, leaving the U.S. wireless market with just three major players alongside AT&T and Verizon.
The combined company will also be named T-Mobile, and the name reveals what needed to happen for the third attempt to work. Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank Group, which owns Sprint, agreed to let go of control of the resulting company from the merger with T-Mobile, something which he has refused to do in the past. SoftBank will only own 27 percent of the new T-Mobile, while Deutsche Telekom AG, the owner of the old T-Mobile, will have a 42 percent stake.
The name and structure of the combined company hints at the direction of the new T-Mobile, as colorful CEO John Legere continues in his role.
What Does This Mean For Subscribers?
According to T-Mobile, the new company will be "a force for positive change in the U.S. wireless, video, and broadband industries," promising a supercharged Un-Carrier strategy that will take the United States into the 5G era.
T-Mobile and Sprint subscribers, after the merger is approved, may soon receive a combination of the perks provided by both carriers, such as free Netflix subscriptions and access to Tidal. In addition, with the combined wireless spectrum of T-Mobile and Sprint, users will benefit from stronger and wider coverage across the United States.
The new T-Mobile will also apparently create thousands of jobs in the United States and boost the country's economic growth, which could be their way of telling President Donald Trump that the merger is good for America.
However, not everything is good news. With the competitors in the telecommunications industry going down from four to three, there are fewer incentives for the carriers to keep prices low. T-Mobile and Sprint said that their combination will lead to better competition with AT&T and Verizon, but the opposite effect of increased prices is a very possible outcome.
Of course, all this relies on the merger gaining approval from regulators, amid what will likely be opposition from AT&T and Verizon. The two companies will not like the idea of T-Mobile and Sprint combining to try to take them down, so we will see how things go from here.
