Many years ago it was rumored that Sprint and T-Mobile could be considering merging with each other and forming a single carrier in the US, a move which the FCC at that time seemed pretty deadset against. Fast forward three years later, we’re in 2017 and it seems that Sprint’s owner SoftBank is still pretty open about the idea.
Speaking during a recent news conference, SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son expressed his interest in discussions about the potential of a Sprint and T-Mobile merger. In a report from Reuters, Son was quoted as saying, “Of all potential partners, T-Mobile is the one that would yield the most synergies, the most orthodox choice and we’d sincerely love to begin talks.” Son went on to add that the current US administration seems to be more open to such a deal.
This isn’t the first time that Son or SoftBank have expressed their interest in merging with T-Mobile. Late last year it was reported that the Japanese company was still hopeful that such a merger could still take place, although whether or not it will ultimately happen still remains to be seen.
However last year, the CEO of T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom Tim Hoettges did state that he was no longer “in the mood” to sell off T-Mobile US, which presumably will be another hurdle that SoftBank will need to clear if they want to make this happen.