T-Mobile and Sprint fling starts to get serious again

Rumours surrounding the will they/won’t they tie up between T-Mobile US and Sprint have started swirling again, with some claiming the deal could be done as early as next week.

According to Reuters, sources have stated talks are progressing steadily with a potential deal on the cards for next week. There is no certainty of a deal as egos clash over voting rights and control of the board room, but it does look like the inevitable merger between T-Mobile US and Sprint could finally happen.

A combined business could certainly offer new headaches for market leaders AT&T and Verizon, who have been struggling to deal with the momentum of T-Mobile and the magenta army already. Bringing the two businesses together would herd together more than 120 million subscriptions, in comparison to the 144 million and 160 million at AT&T and Verizon respectively.

Of course, any deal would be reliant on the two parties being able to decide who is in charge. The latest attempt to merge stalled in November, with neither party being able to agree who would have the dominant position in the board room of the combined entity. While T-Mobile has a larger market share as it stands, and all the momentum, Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank which owns 84.7% of Sprint, is certainly not a man used to taking the backseat.

There are of course numerous, very attractive reasons for the two to tie up. Whether it comes to more efficient investment strategies, scale or a shot in the arm for subscription numbers, the market is clearly hopeful of a deal as well. T-Mobile share price is up almost 3% in afterhours trading, while Sprint has seen a 7% jump. There is a sense of inevitability around the merger, but we wish they would just get on with it.