One of the most populist (though sometimes least popular) telecom carriers of the past few decades is now officially getting absorbed by a rival.
As T-Mobile swallows Sprint whole, journalists today are observing the departure of the well-known brand, which is now effectively kaput.
“After nearly two years of waiting to close their $26.5 billion merger, T-Mobile and Sprint will cross the finish line Wednesday and combine the third- and fourth-largest national wireless carriers,” write Marguerite Reardon and Roger Cheng at CNet. “The merger comes less than two months after a US District Court gave the green light to the deal in a ruling that went against 14 state attorneys general who opposed the transaction.”
As the deal came to fruition in 2019, reports showed that Sprint and T-Mobile were merging in order to accommodate a better 5G competitive network to stand strong against twin behemoths Verizon and AT&T.
By contrast, Sprint was, as the CNet reporting team says in a separate story, a “scrappy competitor” – but in the end, the Nextel merger and other missteps brought the company closer to bankruptcy and defeat. Over time, popular frustration with the carrier often mounted into tirades from both investors and mobile phone users, culminating in rather harsh goodbyes like this one on Reddit:
“You know what. I’m glad that everyone’s leaving you. You deserve to **** die you horrible pathetic piece of ****.”
As with many of these prominent acquisitions, some things are clear and other things are unclear – the companies have a kind of rough plan to get everyone onto the T-Mobile network within three years. As for the financial ramifications to customers, a consumer advocate who pops up in the CNet coverage describes likely outcomes this way:
“This deal will be most harmful to the two carriers’ poorer and more urban customer base, who will pay dearly for this combination after yet another failure by our nation’s antitrust enforcers,” said Matt Wood, vice president of policy and general counsel for Free Press, according to Reardon and Cheng’s most current story on the matter. “This approval is nothing but bad news for people who already pay too much for essential communications services.”
It’s not really good news for the average customer – but on the other hand, industry experts are excited about 5G functionality. Watch this space for more on telecom if you have holdings in this important asset area.
