Sprint & T-Mobile $26 Billion USD Merger Approved By Justice Department (UPDATE)
Satellite television provider Dish becomes the fourth-biggest US phone carrier in the process.
UPDATE: The United States Justice Department has officially approved the $26 billion USD merger deal between Sprint and T-Mobile. A year following the announcement, the Federal Communications Commission agency has all but confirmed it will approve the deal.
This is following the approval of satellite television provider Dish will acquire Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Sprint’s prepaid business, and “certain” spectrum assets, according to The Verge. This makes Dish the fourth-biggest US carrier following the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. As such, both must provide Dish with at least 20,000 cell sites and hundreds of retail locations alongside access to T-Mobile’s network for seven years, until Dish is able to build its own.
Breaking: Justice Department approves T-Mobile and Sprint merger https://t.co/RM5a7mo1ob pic.twitter.com/9enM1rv26a
— The Verge (@verge) July 26, 2019
Original Story Apr 29, 2018: In the above, fairly-awkward video, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure come together to announce some “very big news”: the number three and four largest cellphone carriers in the United States, Sprint and T-Mobile, have agreed to merge into one massive telecom provider. This however is not official just yet, as the merger will need to be approved by regulators and shareholders at both companies.
The T-Mobile name will survive as the new entity’s title, and will continued to be based in the provider’s longstanding home of Bellevue, Washington. T-Mobile’s CEO, Legere, will run the combined company, with T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert becoming the new company’s COO and President. T-Mobile’s majority owner, Deutsche Telekom, will reportedly hold a 42-percent stake in the company, while Sprint’s majority owner, SoftBank, will hold a 27-percent piece, with public stakeholders holding the rest. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will sit on the combined company’s board.
The $26 billion USD merger is a response to the market’s surging demand for a fast and reliable 5G network, with larger rivals AT&T and Verizon already setting their sights on the next-gen service. The pairing will also lower prices, deliver better service and take advantage of “greater economies of scale.”
Stay tuned as more details continue to unfold. In other tech news, Apple is working on a VR/AR headset combo with two 8k displays.
