T-Mobile/Spring Merger Announcement Today

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Yes sir and ma'am, it may get little coverage in these coronavirus pandemic days but T-Mobile and Spring made their big announcement this morning.

T-Mobile completes Sprint merger, 

promises ‘transformative 5G network’

And apparently it's not an April Fool's joke.

From the article:

After seemingly endless regulatory hurdles at the federal and state levels, T-Mobile announced today that it has completed its merger with Sprint, a deal it says will result in a “transformative 5G network” for consumers and businesses. As previously reported, the merger’s completion marks the end of John Legere’s tenure as T-Mobile’s chief executive and the beginning of Mike Sievert’s control over the third-largest U.S. cellular carrier.

Watch for layoffs to begin any time now, campers.

Meanwhile, the 2nd half of the article calls this out:

Today’s merger will bring together T-Mobile’s and Sprint’s separate but complementary network assets, combining wide but low-speed T-Mobile low band with mid-range, mid-speed Sprint mid band spectrum and short distance but high-speed T-Mobile high band spectrum. The combined “layer cake” will enable T-Mobile to offer 5G service that switches from fine to good to super-fast based on whatever network assets are locally available, assuming users have devices that can connect to all three types of 5G networks.

What in the world is that supposed to mean?

The combined “layer cake” will enable T-Mobile to offer 5G service that switches from fine to good to super-fast based on whatever network assets are locally available......assuming users have devices that can connect to all three types of 5G networks.

"Yes, the T-Mobile/Spring merger will give you a 'transformative 5G network...

If you're in JUST the right area.  With just the right equipment.  Sure, you'll have 5g connectivity for your computer."

"Maybe."

Thanks a lot, T-Mobile and Sprint.

The good news for this new fustercluck of a company?

They can hide the merger layoffs in the midst of this pandemic shutdown.

We can hardly wait. 

Additionally, we will all, the US, be going from four wireless cell phone giants down to three, keep in mind.

Watch for prices to increase, over time, citizens.

So yeah. Again. We can hardly wait.

Really.

Sprint, and Their Proposed Merger, Take a Hit Today

The Sprint company and the idea of its merger with T-Mobile takes a hit today in the New York Times.

Stop Creating Corporate Goliaths

A little of what they have to say.

Letting T-Mobile merge with Sprint would hurt consumers, workers and the economy

For years, T-Mobile’s chief executive, John Legere, has gleefully bad-mouthed his much larger mobile phone competitors, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, for their high prices and profit margins, and their low-quality service. Decked out in magenta sneakers and T-shirts, sporting long hair like an aging rocker, Mr. Legere promoted T-Mobile and himself to his 6.2 million Twitter followers as renegades — telephonic cool kids.

T-Mobile wooed customers by offering service plans with no long-term commitments, and by paying to free those customers from their old service plans. Rolling your unused data and minutes into the next month? T-Mobile did that, and AT&T and Verizon had no choice but to follow. More recently, T-Mobile vowed to match any discounts offered by competitors.

The fierce competition, and the march of technology, has rapidly reduced the cost of mobile phone service. Since 2009, the average cost of mobile service has fallen by roughly 28 percent, according to the Labor Department’s calculations. In 2017, at the peak of the mobile phone price wars, the Federal Reserve said prices were falling fast enough to meaningfully reduce inflation across the entire American economy.

That’s the beauty of competition. It’s been good for T-Mobile, too. Over the past five years, the company has added more subscribers than its larger rivals.

Now T-Mobile, the nation’s third-largest wireless company, wants to merge with Sprint, the No. 4 wireless carrier in the United States. The combined company would be in the same weight class as the two largest, AT&T and Verizon, with the three companies each controlling roughly a third of the market. Mr. Legere, who scorned the big guys, now wants to be one of them.

The Justice Department’s antitrust division staff has recommended that the federal government go to court to block the merger. That is good advice.

The proposed merger would harm American consumers. It would reduce the choice of service plans, and, over time, it is likely to result in higher prices and less innovation. It would also harm workers in the mobile phone industry, reducing competition for their labor. And it would increase the political power of the combined corporation...

On the one hand, this is coming from none other than The New York Times so it's going to carry some weight. It's certainly going to be on everyone's "radar", so to speak. 

On the other hand, boys will be boys and money buys all, especially in our current national government. This may be a conversation for a while--a few days?--but when all is said and done, the FCC and this administration will do what they will, customers and nation be damned.

Look for the Sprint-T-Mobile merger to go through. We hope not but these things usually don't go for the people.

But thanks, anyway, New York Times, for trying.