T-Mobile Is at a Crossroads, So Is the U.S. Wireless Industry

The future of the U.S. wireless industry may soon be in the hands of the Obama administration, CNN Money reported. Sprint and T-Mobile have been negotiating terms of a merger and with a price tag of $32 billion agreed upon, now all that’s left is for regulators to approve the deal. Despite SoftBank Chief, Masayoshi Son, shouting from the rooftops that this is a deal that must be made it’s tough to see how regulators will respond. When the FCC and the Department of Justice blocked a deal between AT&T and T-Mobile in 2011, they believed a combination of the two companies “would eliminate the important price, quality, product variety, and innovation competition that an independent T Mobile brings to the marketplace.” While T-Mobile has done a great job by increasing subscribers, cutting prices, and shaking up the industry, some believe that their success will be short lived. “They can’t continue this forever because it will cost them too much money, so the question is what’s next,” said industry analyst Jeff Kagan. According to CNN Money, some analysts see the carrier’s recent moves as an effort to boost its asking price in a potential acquisition. T-Mobile CEO John Legere said last month that consolidation in the industry was “a matter of when and not if,” and that his company could benefit from the additional scale and assets a merger would offer.

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