T-Mobile is rumored to be merging with MetroPCS and the move could create a strong fourth carrier -- but it would face a few obstacles.?
AT&T tried to buy T-Mobile?last year for more than $36 billion but governmental agencies decided to put the kibosh on this because they felt it would have a negative impact on consumer choice. AT&T mainly wanted T-Mobile for its spectrum and many thought Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile's owner) would look for a new owner.?
MetroPCS has roughly 10 million subscribers and a merger with T-Mobile would create an entity that would have about 42.5 million users. While that's still way behind AT&T and Verizon, it would put the MetroPCS/T-Mobile carrier within distance of Sprint's 56 million subscribers. The deal would also create a carrier that has a good chunk of nationwide spectrum that could be used for 4G LTE.?
A potential merger would be fraught with hurdles though, as MetroPCS uses CDMA technology while T-Mobile uses GSM. MetroPCS does use some GSM technology for its 4G LTE network?and it is looking to rapidly ditch CDMA, but there's bound to be some nightmarish transition issues between the two.?
A T-Mobile, MetroPCS merger would likely not face as much scrutiny from the government as the AT&T deal did, though, because it would be a merger of smaller players, rather than a larger player buying a smaller carrier. This is still a rumor at the moment but we'll keep an eye on this and let you know what it means.?
[Via Bloomberg, image credit]
?
Source: http://www.knowyourcell.com/news/1615764/tmobile_metropcs_could_merge.html
william shatner seattle weather skier sarah burke gingrich wife cheryl burke sarah burke mega upload
No comments:
Post a Comment