Sprint and T-Mobile may actually, finally (no, really this time) be ready to announce a deal in which Sprint would take over its rival. According to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters, the carriers are nearing a deal where Sprint would buy T-Mobile for almost $40 per share, comprised of half stock and half cash. That's a total deal north of $32 billion, and a solid premium over the current price of T-Mobile, which has hovered around $34 per share ($27.5 billion valuation) recently.
Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile that currently holds 67 percent of its stock, reportedly wanted above $40 per share but has come to an agreement with Sprint's parent company SoftBank somewhere just shy of the number. In the end DT would retain roughly 15 percent of T-Mobile's stock after the deal, meaning Sprint would then have a controlling share of the company.
A breakup fee — which would be paid to T-Mobile in the event regulators shut the deal down — is also in discussion as part of the deal, and will be over $1 billion according to sources. This is much smaller than the $4 billion breakup fee that was paid to T-Mobile after AT&T failed to buy the carrier in 2011.
Reader comments
Sprint nearing deal to purchase T-Mobile for $40 per share, according to reports
The "breakup fee" is just an excuse to get money. $4 billion from AT&T for NOT buying them at no fault of AT&T is B. S.
If Sprint backs out, there should be a fee. If the FCC doesn't allow it, no fee.
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Long term, get rid of the CDMA network. CDMA phones are locked to a single carrier, and can't go anywhere else. Sprint has committed to unlocking their phones starting next year, but that does nothing for their current line-up of phones (not sure if you can take a S4 or S5 from sprint, and use it on AT&T/T-Mo). It would be nice to buy a unlocked phone off the web, and use it to Sprint/T-Mobile/AT&T, only needing to swap in a SIM card. I think LTE is going to take us there in the future, which is good.
So will Sprint get their cell towers for sprint users?
And sprint will own them completely?
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Hope the deal fails
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Why us it some of you wouldnt want this to happen? Way I see it it benefits both Sprint and Tmobile customer. Where there is no coverage one will have coverage because there are places that one has better coverage than the other. Of course it will take time for that to happen but it will be great.
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I hope this deal gets shut down, honestly. There is already too little true competition in the wireless market.
what does this mean for customers of sprint and tmo?
There has been a lot of comments, I left Sprint six months, twelve months, five years, ten years ago because their coverage sucks. Guess what, a lot has changed since then. I'm not saying its perfect but it is getting better. In Michigan 4g is pretty good and getting better all the time.
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I was with metro and left tmo for them, then tmo ruined metro, and I left them for Sprint, now this crap. I'm bout to just go with at&t I give up.
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I'm not sure how I feel about this. All I'm seeing is that there has been attempts to reduce competition in the cellular and broadband sector.
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I'll go back to VZW if sprint buys Tmo
In the words of Cleavland Brown...NO NO NO NO NO!
i hate this i left sprint because my device didnt get good service and home or at work the two place i am at the most i had crappy service. i went to tmo and my device works great at home and good at work. i am not going outside at home no more to take a freaking phone call. guess i'll finally look at the devil big red i wont be on sprint again
I feel bad for tmo! :-(
Sent From My Nexus 7
Among all these comments, not one has addressed the most important question this merger presents. Will Carly look just as hot in Sprint yellow as she does in T-Mobile pink?
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No.
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Maybe in a yellow bikini or thong and yellow tshirt combo.
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I don't even think that Sprint has that much money.
Softbank, Sprint's parent, does.
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I was going to switch to tmobile..... Guess I am sticking with att. Merger will be a mess, gsm and cdma are 2 different beasts. Sprint threw a hissy fit when att tried to buy tmobile and now they want it. I wonder what uncarrier 5.0 event will be about. Would the merger make sprint-mobile the largest carrier in u.s?
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^This. Was going to switch, but wind of this possible deal reached me in the nick of time. Holding on AT&T for now until I know what's going to happen.
No, a merger would still leave the combined companies as the #3 carrier in terms of subscribers.
I'm in OC (Southern California) and Sprint was always promising all kinds of stuff just around the corner. Well, that's a long-ass block, because that corner is still so far away! Switched to T-Mobile in January and haven't looked back. Just to show you how bad Sprint 4G is (was?), standing on the closest corner to the happiest place on earth, where at least a zillion people pass by, I have no access! In spite of all this, the service will have to improve with this merger, for both sets of customers.
That's exactly why I switched from Sprint. No data in one of the places you would want it the most. I got tired of waiting. Also made the switch in January and now I am happy at the happiest place again! And everywhere else for that matter.
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I would be one of the T-Mobile customers complaining about this--as I've had Sprint and dealt with their horrible customer service. However, this article doesn't really seem to accurately reflect what I have read via a couple of other sources.
Softbank would be buying T-Mobile NOT Sprint. They may or may not try to combine the companies. They may also create an entirely different company (like the old Cingular?). It has also been mentioned that Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Softbank, greatly admires John Legere, T-Mobile's CEO, and would likely appoint him as the CEO of a merged company.
This Will mark the END if unlimited data in sorint.
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Given that Softbank & T-mobile both have unlimited data plans, why would they end it?
I left Sprint a year ago for Tmobile, I got sick and tired of a really slow network in Phoenix. Looks like there is already a petition started to prevent this merger.
How's T-Mobile working out for you? I am in Phoenix as well with Verizon and their speeds are quite slow.
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Tmobile has been working out pretty well. I was very surprised that I get LTE here in Anthem. I also have Verizon and I prefer Tmobile over them. HD voice is an added plus. I guess it would depend on your area in Phoenix. I know that New River coverage is not that great. But as far as the valley coverage it has been very good.
I switched from Sprint for a reason...
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Sprint Has never been or will ever be loved by their customers !! Their ploy on this move is for them to stay in business cause their nearly dead anyway. Everybody should start writing your congressmen, And send massive Letters of protest To The FCC & The D.O.J. as well as Post your outrage on Twitter,Facebook,YouTube,Blogger ))) AND START NOW ! ! ! ((( Send this sushi eating wanna be back to japan & his crooked soft-bank That wants to unload this kamikaze of a deal they made in the first place
Industry arguments aside, that's some mighty 'murican xenophobia you've got going there.
'MURICA! FUCK YEAH! LOL :-)
I love Sprint. :)
Posted via HTC One on Sprint
Do you really think that racial stereotyping adds to your credibility?
I have never had good service with Sprint, so I do not favor this deal. Tmo just need to hang in there longer. They are growing their subscribers and pushing the industry in new directions. An effort that I feel may stop if Sprint gets their hands on Tmo.
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I was a sprint customer for about 9 years. I decided to leave sprint and give Tmo a shot. When I was a sprint customer I often heard people say they had terrible customer service. I had very few minor interactions that I would call bad and only one I would call terrible in my time with sprint.
My fiance however, is still with sprint. She has experienced what I consider to be a total lack of customer appreciation and I now understand why so many people dislike sprint. She has no success getting her issue resolved with sprint so she has taken to ripoffreport, twitter and facebook. Here is her story....
In September of 2010 I went to the sprint store on Central Avenue in the city of Chino, California. I upgraded my phone from the Samsung Rant to the Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4g. I used the phone and all was well. After 2 years as most people do, I upgraded my phone again. I went to Sam's Club in Ontario, California and upgraded from the Epic to the Samsung Galaxy S3. Upon returning home I placed my no longer used Epic in a box in my closet. It remained in my closet until Monday May 26, 2014.
My mother and I have a family plan. Her phone started to malfunction to the point where it was hardly usable. We took her phone to the corporate sprint store in Rancho Cucamonga, California for a repair. It was immediately apparent that they were not interested in repairing the phone and pressured me to upgrade the phone instead of trying to repair it. I explained that I was not interested in an upgrade as my intent is to leave sprint for a better carrier as soon as my contract with Sprint is over. Shortly after returning home with my mothers still malfunctioning phone I decided to have sprint reactivate my Samsung Epic.
I called sprint on May 26, 2014 and as asked, I read the numbers behind the battery to the rep on the phone. I read the ESN DEC and ESN HEX multiple times. I was told that my phone was being used on a different line by someone in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I explained that couldn’t be right because I'd never been to FL. and the phone was in my hand right now. I figured it had to be a mistake. She then placed me on hold and after a while came back and said that the phone had been activated 7 times in November of 2013 and had been moved around a lot. To me it was obvious that it was fraud. She then told me I needed to go to a sprint repair shop to have it fixed.
The next morning, I drove to the sprint store on Central Avenue that I originally bought the phone from in 2010. They refused to even look at it and said to take it to a different store. I took it to the sprint store in Rancho Cucamonga, California. I explained what I was told on the phone and I was told they couldn’t help me. I asked to talk to a manager and explained the situation again to Kevin. Kevin then scanned the phone's bar code and accused me of having someone else in my home use the phone. I explained that was not possible. He then asked if I let someone use it in Florida; I told him no it was in my closet for the last 2 years. He then said there was nothing he could do. I asked that he replace or repair it. His reply was that the phone was worth $2.99. I have no interest in selling phone so I don’t care what the value is. I asked that he call customer service to get their assistance in correcting the issue. He refused to call customer service. I left the store.
I am not able to use my Samsung Epic. Sprints system for activating phones allowed someone to steal my serial number and use it. A thief in Florida is using my serial number and Sprint is doing nothing to fix it.
My intent since Sprint is not helping me is to tell everyone who will listen how poorly Sprint treats its customers.
Weird. I just reactivated a htc evo 3D on my Framily plan and had no issue.
Posted via HTC One on Sprint
Sounds like cloning fraud. Have you spoken with Sprint's fraud department yet?
@flychinook Fraud dept and office of the president said they would review it and call her back but haven't called her back yet. To me it seems like there should be nothing to investigate once she shows up at the store with the phone. BOOM... shes holding it in her hand therefore, they should activate it and turn the esn thief phone off right away.
Yay! My husband sells Sprint , ATT and Verizon, but not T-MOBILE.
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I left Sprint a few years ago for Tmobile, buuuuut I never paid my etf...
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Both won't survive without this-it HAS to happen or the only choice will be vzn or att and then see how much ur bills go up
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This better not happen. I left sprint due to crappy LTE service, terrible voice quality, and just a pathetic network. It was amazing how my nexus 5 worked flawlessly after I move from Sprint to t mobile.
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If you want a competitive wireless industry you better hope it does happen.
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That's fine, I'm still leaving sprint for AT&T in 7 months because sprint's network is so saturated here that their LTE barely achieves 5mb down and it's only in one place in this city. T-Mobile, fast data but bad coverage off the grid. I'll be paying a few $$ extra for solid coverage and data speeds so I can actually use it when I need it. Not every time the wind kicks up i get bumped to 3G, which is not good 3G.
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Yes!!!! Keep John Legere and I'm all in with this plan and keep the data plans of T-Mobile, but make the sprint prepaid services Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile the same with better coverage, data speeds, customer service, phones, and more data!!!! And I'll be a loyal customer and call it SprinT- Mobile!!! And combine Sprint Spark with T-Mobiles data speeds and well have the tastes network out of Verizon and AT&T!!!!:)
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I left Sprint going on 1 year now. Currently have service with AT&T and recently added T-Mobile $30.00 prepaid plan as a backup. If this merger is allowed to pass, I think they should either keep the T-Mobile name due to it's momentum at the moment, or simply call it SoftBank USA. Either way, leave John Legere in charge and I'm all for it since he seem to know how to produce results. Just my two cents.
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I'm not original so +1 because my network is terrible and TMo works better where I live.
I hope they try to buy Tmobile, then fail, so that we get a gift cash
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Yes! This! Free money for Tmo! I just broke away from sprint to go to T-Mobile a year ago. Sprint suuuucks in Savannah - it's mostly 3g but even random 4G areas only get a couple mbs. Tmo on the other hand gets 15-30mb everywhere here. Screw Sprint.
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And if that happens you stand to make how much of it?
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Then T-Mobile will go out of business. And Sprint will as well and you will only be able to choose between Verizon and AT&T but pesky facts.
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Why is that the only outcome? How have these companies remained separate all these years?
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All I know is two struggling companies isn't good.. Think, two companies paying for nationwide tower coverage with half the subscribers, now they can shut down 2/3 of towers lowering the bill of leasing towers and possibly add a few more in areas. Plus more spectrum, should be good for everyone. Seems like a good deal to me..
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I don't mind as long as I don't start getting throttled by sprint and they keep the network gsm.
+1
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Looks like my wife and I will finally be on the same carrier. There goes my 10 yeah T-Mo reign.
LG Optimus G Pro
New company to be called Sprint-Mobile lol
SprinT-Mobile... :)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
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Hell no. I used to be all for sprint when i bought over 8 different virgin mobile phones because of their cheap plans and unlimited data. Than they got crappy. 3g slow 4g clearwire? Even without prepaid after softbank bought them they went from unlimited data to framily share this and that data crap like everyone else meanwhile tmobile improved. Expect them to f up tmobile as well. No thanks.
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No. First Framily plans are not data share. And they still have unlimited data. Did you bother making sure your comments were accurate before posting
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Oh god.... Will be changing carriers again with my company if this goes through, Sprint have the worst customer service ever, I've had my fair share of bullshit with them and won't be doing it again...
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Then why is their customer service always rated as the best? Hmm?
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THEY WILL DROP CDMA AND CONVERT THE TOWERS TO GSM SO THEY CAN HAVE A STRONG 4G LTE & 3G NETWORK INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CITIES WHEN TRAVELING!!!! Sprint has Awesome coverage inside my city El Dorado, Arkansas. I get great 3g and 4g speeds inside the city but horrible service outside the city, while T-Mobile only has 2g coverage in my city but 3g and 4g coverage outside my city!!! WTF!?!? So see I would have to be on both just to have great service inside and outside the city!! I can't stand AT&T price to high, Verizon slow speeds!! So this would be great for me!! And some other people.
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Preach it!
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I'm kinda insulted that they accepted Softbank's bid of $40 per share but rejected my bid of $40 outright. I think my bid was much more indicative of T-Mobile's worth
This! I was pulling for ya!!!
It won't. Eventually it will all be converted into one much larger network, save for the spectrum they will inevitably have to concede to other carriers in certain markets. Who knows if it goes the CDMA or GSM route (though I would really suspect GSM).
Really neither. Mid to long term, CDMA and GSM are irrelevant as all the networks begin transition to LTE-A. The everything will be a data stream.
No I hate sprint, I truly hope this deal doesn't go through.
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Then the only us carriers in a few years will be Verizon and AT&T
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Yuk and to think I was going to move to T-Mobile after their coverage got better.
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I had a bitter breakup with Sprint back in January after 12 years. LTE sucked ass where I lived, in DC no less. I didn't realize how bad it was until I signed up with T-Mobile. I'm not opposed to a merger of the two if it means service will compete with the likes of Verizon and AT&T, but I want Legere running the ship. I like that guy.
Exactly! On all points!
I thought Sprint's coverage and LTE speeds were *okay*, but I had no flippin idea that my speeds were going to increase ten-fold. It's seriously insane that Sprint thinks that they're even competing in this market. There's absolutely no way that I think this benefits anybody, so why on Earth is this even happening?
I just paid close to $500 to buy my way out of Sprint's crappy service and join T-Mobile. Will I get my d**n money back??
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Shouldn't TMo be paying for that?
Seconded this question. If you traded in your phone they should "help" pay your ETF
Got reimbursed for 3 of my 5 lines. I wanted an unlocked HTC One M8 and the wife wanted to keep her S3 which T-Mobile no longer had so those two lines I paid the ETF penalty myself.
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T-Mobile is paying etf's. You didn't know that??
**Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!**
I thought the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor? /s
False Flag Operation...
Don't stop him. He's on a roll. ;)
Will my T-Mobile service get better because of this? Since Sprint is CDMA, T-Mobile is GSM. How does it work with the towers, connections, service etc?
They would likely operate separately for a good, long while. It'd take years to integrate the carriers.
Nope, if approved and withing a year or so you will have to give up your GSM phone for a Sprint CDMA phone and suffer through Swiss cheese lte
I'd be willing to be Sprint would shut their own CDMA network down in favor of the GSM/LTE combo.
yeah spread FUD...
Neither will matter in a few years
What FUD? Sprint will make everyone switch over to their network which for the next 3 to 4 years will be CDMA. They haven't even finished NV1.0!!! So you think they are going to finish NV 2 and scrapped their CDMA network in less than 4 years GTFO
Guess you missed the part where I said it doesnt matter.
Let me explain for you. LTE-A, which Sprint is surely building into the network will make the GSM/CDMA debate moot. CDMA AND GSM will go away.
Before that is ready, the networks would more than likely stay separate.
On top of all that, lets see what the plan is.
PS: NV 1.0 is close to completion and NV 2.0 started awhile ago...
Heads up, LTE is a GSM standard. Just like GPRS and HSPA.
YEah but we think of it more as LTE and LTE-A than a true GSM
Something I dug up:
However, the Network Vision architecture has some additional flexibility. By design, Network Vision cells are technology independent. That means that Sprint can simply plug in new radio network technologies through certain specified interfaces and essentially be able to add another network to Network Vision. For example, if a network operator decides to contract Sprint to host an HSPA+ network over Sprint’s PCS band, then Sprint can easily configure the network to offer HSPA+ alongside CDMA2000. That is what Sprint calls network hosting.
Additionally, Network Vision supports all major FDD and TDD frequency bands certified for use in the United States. If a potential network operator wishes to lease its frequencies to Sprint in order to use Sprint’s infrastructure to host its own network, Sprint and the operator can work out an agreement to lease the spectrum to Sprint and have it operate as a component of the network managed by the operator. This is what Sprint calls spectrum hosting.
Don't try and spread these facts about the network upgrades. Sprint has been pretty transparent about what this whole system upgrade and update entails but people are just oblivious to it because they want to be. Those who don't have a clue about the technologies in play will still bitch and moan about GSM and CDMA until the cows come home.
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I think Sprint will most likely go with gsm and integrate their lte spectrum with T-Mobile. If they decide to go with cdma I will switch to AT&T.
Posted via Nexus 5 Android Central App
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
This is good for everyone, get over it. Told you all this was gonna happen. I have told you why it is a good thing that it happens.
Now put on your big boy pants and deal with it. Your network is not going to shut down (either one), your service will improve (tmo sucks outside the city, Sprint in the city), GSM/CDMA is not an obstacle (and hopefully CDMA will go away), and T Mobile will die if they do not get some new money. DT has been trying to get rid of them and they are living on the breakup money from ATT. All those deals you saw from T Mobile were just to dress things up to make the sale more palatable.
This is a good thing...
Still has to be approved and the DOJ already indicated a NO the 1st time this was rumored. So right now your gloating is for nothing
No, they said they have grave misgivings about it. They talked about what it would take to get the deal done and set up a framework. There are going to be lots of concessions both in towers and in bandwidth (in areas) but it is nothing that cannot be worked out.
If the satellite radio deal can get through, this can...
Satellite radio was losing money and still is.
Until the DOJ and the FTC says yes, this it is premature gloating.
T Mobile has been losing money and still is
Sprint Was losing money, and the buyout stopped that.
The two combined is the only way for competition. I am gloating about the deal being done. I am not sure that it will pass but I would give it a 60-40 shot right this minute...
The buyout didn't stop Sprint from losing money. They are still losing subscribers every quarter. Moto being bought out by Google didn't stop moto from losing money and moto is now being sold to the Chinese.
Next year, when I was out of my Verizon contract, I was debating on whether to switch to Sprint or T-Mobile. Guess that solved that question.
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If they merge, there probably won't be a point in switching.
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My 30$ unlimited data unlimited text and 100 min plan better NEVER go away. Ugh I hate sprint.
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It will go away. Hell, even if TMobile wasn't being bought out by Sprint, that plan was never destined to last forever.
hope the FCC jumps in here and says NOT GOING TO HAPPEN ! !!!
Fingers crossed
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Sorry for your luck
Lol
Good. T-Mobile will get a billion dollars breakup fee which will be used to upgrade their 2G to LTE. Thanks Sprint and have a nice day.
If you think that they you really don't know what your talking about.
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Aahh, what?
There goes all of tmobiles progress and true unlimited data.
Sprint has unlimited data. Also tmos management will be in charge according to every report.
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With throttles in congested areas for heavy users....
Maybe that's why T-MOBILE made all those incentives, knowing the end was in sight? Just a thought.
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Goodbye, T-Mobile.
Why stop with T-Mobile and Sprint.... Let's throw in an ATT or Verizon while we're at it. The one/two cable provider model works great!
The consumer wins again!
I'm glad this sarcasm jumps right off the screen :) thank you for the laugh
It still don't matter if this go threw or not they still want be as good as #1 Verizon Wirless and #2 AT&T it would give them a little better chance to compete and have more money to bid and purchase spectrum against them but they are not going to out do them they can just forget about that and definitely and going to have better coverage.
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As somebody who jumped out of Sprint's ship and am now on the T-Mobile party barge, can I personally contest this?
Amen. Left Sprint after 10+ years for a reason.
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Well Sprint says, Welcome Back! lol
Haha!
Posted via Android Central App
"Just when I thought I was out..."
I am on that same barge! Left sprint, went to tmo. love tmo.... not so much love for sprint.
Here Here!
I've been reading the rumors of this merger for what two years now? I actually did just the same... Finally got tired of all the promises "First 4G Network and WiMax is the future" Oops.. sorry that didn't work we are going to do like everyone else and switch to LTE... Oh with Softbank we will be able to expand more rapidly.... Oh now it's Spark LTE.... and I lived in a initial release WiMax, LTE and Spark coverage area... Never got much of anything on any of those... even after an email and text six weeks ago that said "your area is now fully upgraded" Yeah then my is my coverage still the same???
So I jumped to T-Mobile a month ago and so much better... 4x more data use and screen on time since I switched... 17 years on Sprint... but after an EVO 4G, EVO 4G LTE, GS3 and Nexus 5 and almost 5 years it was just time.... Hopefully the T-Mobile people run this company (as has been rumored)
I would like to contest this as well. Just moved to T-Mobile back in January from Sprint and I couldn't be happier with my service. Would never go back to Sprint. I just hope that if the merger happens that all of Sprint's plans and people go away and T-Mobile's stay. Hesse would need to go and Legere would need to be CEO and T-Mobile's Uncarrier plans would need to remain in place.
T mobile could be just making deals that they know are not going to go through the FCC just to make extra money. 4 billion from ATT, 1 billion from Sprint. It's free money!!!! Either way. In my mind, if regulators approve a monster tie up like Comcast/Time Warner, there is no logical reason why they would not allow this deal to go through.
Only T-Mobile's parent company wants to sell T-Mobile.
Posted via Android Central App
This really sux! This deal will kill T-Mobile because of people bailing to AT&T & Verizon. Personally, I'll be heading to AT&T, as much as I hate to say it. At least I'll get a decent corporate discount.
I left VZ for T-M six years ago for the phone freedom. T-Mobile, it was good while it lasted.
I'm right there with you
Posted via Android Central App
Yeah if this means a switch to cdma and/or loss of t-mobiles better no contract pricing i would probably move to at&t's prepaid. Hopefully this new sprint/t-mobile company continues to put pressure on AT&T and Verizon or we may lose all the progress we've made in making the US wireless market more consumer friendly (relatively speaking that is)
So if this deal goes through, then boost and virgin mobile phone will switch to gsm eventually like cricket did to their phones when AT&T took over... AT&T screwed me over when they did that because next year my cricket gs3 will be useless and it's ridiculous because I finally got a phone that I love(this post is not about bashing any kind of phones so please don't bash my comment about loving my gs3, as I've never had a high end phone before this one and I was lucky enough to get this one). All I can do right now is wait and see if this actually goes through. I've been shopping for an eventual replacement but now with this news I don't know what to do. The new cricket is ridiculous as I will not be staying with them.
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You love a particular phone and it works for your needs? How dare you. I shall now bash you thusly...
Haha sig... Yeah all my previous phones were really low end phones and as of right now the gs3 does what I want... I am looking for a note 2 or mega(I like big screens) as my next replacement... I think I may just end up getting a gophone sim card and put it in my next phone whichever that will be... At least a phone with 2GB of RAM and at least 5 inch screen or bigger
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here is the deal though (and i am seriously not bashing anything) but by the time they figure all this out and shut down that side of things, your phone will be OLD. It will be time for an upgrade and you should be able top get a great deal on something like a GS4 by then. I wouldnt worry too much really.
Or a Galaxy S8. Or an HTC One (M11)
His phone was old last year
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I would sell that GS3 now when you can still get something for it. There are plenty of good, cheap AT&T phones to choose from and their network is far superior to the old Cricket network.
I'm sure they'll have some kind of trade in discount, probably won't be very high but it will be better than nothing. I think Metro PCS gave me $100 to get a new phone when my old one wouldn't work on their network a few years ago, I think in 2011 when they were still separate from T-mobile.
I really hope they still keep T-Mobile simple choice plan with free roaming for texts and data. That is all I'm asking.
So will this be CDMA/GSM worry free carrier?
Posted via Android Central App
Sprint gives you free data/text/call roaming.
I meant to say international roaming. Does Sprint offer that? I only ask because I know nothing about Sprint's plan.
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Shit no. I wish! But that's the beauty of a GSM network, which I'm pretty sure this will end up being. With the advent of LTE, CDMA is dying as we know it now.
Sprint LTE phones have GSM bands so they can roam international.
Posted via Android Central App
I get that, but I don't feel like taking out a 2nd mortgage to talk with my family if I'm out of the country for a week. Check out Sprint's international roaming rates and then let me know if you really give a damn that you have the capability. Just because the phone has the capability does not mean that it's a viable option.
Posted via Android Central App
That is a good question. I wonder if T-Mobile was able to get that international deal because of the ties with Deutsch Telekom. That was a great deal for the international traveler. Sprint's global rates are horrid. I had to switch to using GroveIP over wifi on my last trip.
No, largely because most of their current phones would not be compatible with GSM. Secondly, T-Mo only offers this because 0.0000001% of people will actually use it, but it is an EXCELLENT marketing technique and EXCELLENT for those few that actually do use it, I love the idea of it.
Sprint LTE phones are compatible with GSM. 2G GSM and 3G GSM.
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Their LTE phones from late 2013 onwards anyway, their first LTE phones not so much... SGS3 and the last EVO had sealed SIMs etc.
You can just unlock your phone for use on international gsm networks.
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roaming... for f sake. no one should ever be charged (or should have been chrged) for roaming in YEARS
That's like an all you can eat shit buffet.
It's weird that sprint was fighting against AT&T doing this same thing. Seems crazy though because doesn't tmobile have faster internet speed on the phone and Sprint? Every person I talk to that uses Sprint says that their 4G is horribly slow.
Posted via Ash William's Boomstick
That's inaccurate!
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T-Mobile does have great data speeds, but severely lacking in coverage. The T-Mobile data speeds are relative becasue at this point their network is still not as saturated as Sprint.
I'm a Sprint & T-Mobile customer, I actually look forward to this possible merger. However, I also know it's going to be a bumpy ride for customers while the two networks merge their services.
Not as saturated? T-mobile recently surpassed Sprint in smartphone sales
That's accurate.
Posted via Android Central App
People were fighting against AT&T buying T-Mobile because it was proven that they weren't buying them to improve their network. They were buying them to eliminate one of their competitors.
This is a huge no no among the anti-monopoly regulatory committees.
This is why I fear this merger. Sure Sprint and T-Mobile would probably be better able to take on the likes of AT&T and Verizon, but fewer companies means less competition, and only having 3 major phone providers instead of 4 means more of an oligopoly. Everyone losses when there is less choice
One only has to look at the airline industry in Europe vs. the US to see what increased competition vs an oligopoly looks like. How often to you hear of airline tickets going on sale in the US?
One could argue though that this will add a third competitor to the race instead of removing a fourth. Right now it is pretty much a two horse race in the US. A strong third could really shake things up in favor of the consumer.
I have to disagree. I think that if T-Mobile were a larger company, they would not have been as innovative as they have been with their "Uncarrier" initiative. Because they know that they can't compete on coverage, they have been doing other interesting things to attract customers, and the other 3 carriers are clearly reacting and adjusting their policies to be more beneficial to consumers
I don't know. Have Verizon and AT&T become more affordable in the last year because of T-Mobile's effort? If you don't have the coverage, does it matter how affordable your plans are? It seems T-Mobile has stolen more Sprint customers than anyone else.
Southwest runs sales all the time.
:(
A bigger and better Sprint/Tmo
Posted via Android Central App
Please commence with the "if this goes through then I'm leaving T-Mobile because Sprint is so terrible at blah blah blah and T-Mobile is so great at everything that this would be like letting Satan literally eat the flesh of the baby Jesus and I just won't even have cell service anymore and maybe I'll just commit suicide because this is the worst news EVER!" comments.
Yeah, where are the Tmo fanboys?
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I'm right here... Less comp is more cash out of my pocket...this is a crap deal
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except this will be better competition....
Except both companies will fail without a merger.
**Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!**
So now the Japanese and Germans will bomb more then Pearl Habor with this deal.
Um... +1? I think?
Haha +1 lol I see what you did there.
I would love some GSM love, but I have to say Sprint has taken pretty good care of me and my family for 15yrs. Yes I am in a big city with smokin LTE virtually everywhere.
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Not cool at all. It's funny how Sprint customers want this deal and Tmobile customers want nothing to do with crappy Sprint.
I just pulled a 58.6M speed test outside of L.A. on my Sprint M8 so I guess "crappy" Sprint is a relative term. I could give two shits about TMo and their service but I do know that putting the spectrum of these two carriers together is a good thing for people on either carrier. Once the technical GSM/CDMA hurdles are taken care of then the coverage and penetration should be outstanding for all of us.
Except that likely all the cool stuff tmo has been doing.. all the uncarrier stuff... will be going away i would think. Bandwidth and coverage may go up, but i left sprint cause i didnt like the way they did business. I am not jumping ship til i see what happens... but the second they try to pin me on a contract i am OUT!
They're doing away with contracts just like TMo has.
Look, I'm not crusading for Sprint. Or T-Mobile. But I am so tired of all the damn service provider sycophants shitting themselves because of a possible merger. They act like the world is coming to an end. Trust me when I say that while the world is probably coming to some horribly biblical ending, it won't be because of a merger between two cell phone companies. Especially two companies that are struggling to keep up with the Big 2 above them and who are running parallel business practices in a lot of respects.
People are acting like Sprint beats our kids and rapes our spouses twice a month as part of a 20-year contract we sign for 9 minutes, 10 texts and 100Kb of data per quarter. Meanwhile TMo is giving you folks massages with happy endings twice a day, giving unlimited hugs, kisses, minutes, texts, horsey rides, data and fresh-squeezed orange juice for $.02 a year.
WTH!? I never got any orange juice!!
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I recent that comment as Sprint rapes my wife twice a day...
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That's your neighbor bro....not Sprint.....
I bastard Juan...
And his Sprint shirt looked Legit..
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LOL!
He prolly got the shirt at a Sprint store with a 2 year contract for 2 bucks a month....
OMG I can't stop laughing
Posted via Android Central App
+1 That is funny bro
Niiiiiiice! Funny shit
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+1
Posted via Android Central App
Since I'm not married or have kids I actually have to allow Hesse to kick my dog once a week, that sonuva has a mean strike... He said last week he's looking forward to all the new puppies he'll be able to cripple soon.
Is there a line for a hug I need one after hearing this I left sprint... Well actually my account is suspended but I left them with no thoughts of going back
Posted via Android Central App
The uncarrier stuff will be going away anyway, at some point. There is no way TMO can sustain this as they are giving away the farm in exchange for quick market share. I think with Masayoshi Son and Legere at the helm the new Sprint/T-Mobile can be a true contender to Verizon and AT&T, otherwise they dont have the scale. Masa is a very aggressive businessman an he will fight and cough up the cash for a top notch network and to become #1. Sprint's network has drastically improved in the last couple of years and they are still working on more upgrades and Spark. Only time will tell.
T-Mobile is operating at a loss. The big shots keep saying that they will make tons of money in the long run. Yes they will. When Sprint buys T-Mobile the big shots will make lots of money.
As for the "uncarrier" bull. It is exactly that. Bull. You hear of the low monthly cost of the service. Then they change you another $20-30 per month for the phone. Why aren't people factoring that into the monthly bill? They claim you can upgrade at anytime. You can, if you pay off the rest of the phone you have now first. If you cancel service, you have to pay off the entire phone at once. How is this NOT a contract?
Posted via Android Central App
I think you meant that you COULDN'T give two shits. If you say "could", it means you do care. You're trying to say you don't care.
Posted via Android Central App
That's a regional dialect thing. If you think about it, giving or not giving shit is apathetic.
+1
Posted via Android Central App
If Sprint cares at all about your location, the service is great. Otherwise, like where I live, you're stuck with no LTE and vastly oversold 3G service that isn't even usable for email. Of course T-Mobile service isn't any better either since we're stuck with a partner provider that can't afford to invest in new infrastructure.
I'm a Sprint customer and don't want this to go through.
Less competition means the more we pay.
Softbank needs to invest in Sprints crappy overloaded network instead of trying to buy up the competition.
Sofbank has said that they would start a major price war with VZW and AT&T if they allow the merger. How can that be bad?
Exactly! big company will never lie to us right!
They are ALL saints....
If you believe that, you are very naive. Money is the bottom line for all of them. Bringing prices down with such a small margin would seriously hurt their bottom dollar.
But if they snag up millions more in customers, it makes small margin a moot point.
+1
I agree, service sucks but no other provider can touch my deal 70 bucks unlimited everything and no throttling, when I do have service that is
+1
Posted via Android Central App
I'm a Sprint customer and I sort of don't want this deal. It would take them forever to combine their networks and it would be extremely disruptive to the work both companies are doing to improve their networks.
Sprint customer here...couldn't care any less if it happens. Your precious T-Mobile won't survive any better than sprint if this doesn't go through though.
**Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!**
This right here. Moto San has said many times that either T-Mobile would have to eliminate Sprint or Sprint would have to eliminate T-Mobile first before anything can really be done about Verizon and AT&T having a strangle hold on the wireless industry. Considering what he did with Softbank in Japan I'm very curious on what he can do.
Guess you missed that history class on WW2. Too funny...
Didn't the Japs invade Normandy or some shit like that?? :)
Oh my God! Just like last week....Has everyone forgotten the movie Animal House??? Moon even has Belushi as his avatar.
I'M A ZIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They were watching Animal House instead of going to that history class on WW2.....Le Sigh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8lT1o0sDwI
Germans?
Posted via Android Central App
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Posted via Android Central App
+1 lol
+another 1.
Sprint has gotten much better over the last 2 years I'm an active LTE markets and I pretty much everywhere I go still has room to grow, but things are looking very positive for the market that I'm in. The one thing that concerns me about this deal is that it seems reminiscent of Sprint and Nextel unless sprint wants to create a massive CDMA/GSM carrier not sure how this will work.
Posted via Android Central App
Sprint said they would have LTE in my area by the end of July 2012. Spark is rolling out in other places and now there is still no LTE and no WiMax. That's why I switched to T-Mobile, no LTE yet, but at least they do have 4G speeds. I really don't want this Merger...
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Yep waiting for Wimax in my hometown since 2010
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Keep waiting on that wimax brother....
Why? You're not going to lose the "4G" in any way.
LTE is just coming online in Colorado. In areas where it's working it's great. As for CDMA/GSM, they're both going to go away and everything including voice will be a data stream over some flavor of LTE. CDMA or GSM support will only be relevant in roaming areas.
always need cellular for fallback. lte is gsm based
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+1
Agreed.
Posted via Android Central App
Noooo is right. They'll keep the companies separate at first, then a year down the road we will hear Sprint is absorbing them. They can kiss my money goodbye. I left Verizon after 12 years because I liked what T-Mobile and Legere were doing. Of course, what's good for big business is never also good for the consumer, so I expect we will all get effed by this deal. There will be three carriers colluding to keep prices up.
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It can't happen until FCC and anti-monopoly regulators approve the purchase/merger...
True.
Exxon/Mobil merger - about 13 seconds
American Airlines/US Airways - around 2.5 hours
Sirius/XM - about a year and a half
By my calculations we should see the Justice Department and FCC give a yes or no on this deal by 2019.
Nope less than a year, more like 6 months.
Some concessions will have to be made so it will depend on that if the entire thing goes through but I think it is going to be pretty swift either way...
I have been reading that in order to pass the regulators that T-Mo and Sprint may have to remain separte entities. 2 companies, one owner, so they'll probably share the network.
This wouldn't necessarily be bad. Maintain Sprint and T-Mo as discrete marketing and support companies and factor out the networks into a new company using the combined assets. Going forward, they could converge on a single LTE/VOLTE network.
That's fine, just share the two networks.
I kinda doubt that scenario though unless it is for a small number of years. Long enough for LTE-A to get fully deployed
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Not true on the US Air and American merger. The DoJ sued to block the merger. Demanded concessions by both companies.
The lawsuit caused more than a 6 month delay...not 2.5 hours
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For those of you who don't get the sarcasm, I can't help you. But how could you possibly point out the 2.5 day airline merger as a mistake but skip right past the 13 second oil company merger?
And for the record the Sirius/XM merger is accurate. My point was to demonstrate how screwed up these large mergers become when the government seems to have "our" priorities a little backwards.
Because big oil doesn't have to play by the rules like everyone else.
Just like all the oil that is sitting on the floor of the Gulf in massive quantities, that was never cleaned up and killing off the shrimp business and the bottom feeders. Paid a big fine and walked away.
typically, you add an "/s" to the end of your statement to signify sarcasm. It's the internet. I don't hear your voice tone...use it.
For example: Verizon clearly aligns their business practices strictly for the benefit of their customers! /s
Yeah... I won't be using it. The sheer amount of exaggeration should have given it away - a 13 second merger between multi-billion dollar corporations sort of speaks for itself. Like the statement you made about Verizon doing positive things for their customers.
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Yes, that's how it works. The companies have to come to an agreement first, then the regulatory agencies can take a look.
Go Sprint :)
Posted via HTC One on Sprint
Man.... BUMP sprint
Posted via Android Central App
Shut up
Hahaha
Posted via the Android Central App on my Nexus 5
But who's really taking over whom here? Sprint isn't buying T-mobile, the majority stakeholder in Sprint is becoming the majority stakeholder in T-Mobile. DT's terms reportedly require keeping the T-mobile name and management team in place.
Cool.
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Inevitable.
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