Poll results: Respondents seem split on Sprint buying T-Mobile
A week and a half ago, we asked you whether or not Sprint should proceed with its rumored plans to acquire T-Mobile. The question came shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported that Softbank, which owns 80% of Sprint, might put in a bid of around $20 billion for Deutsche Telekom’s 67% stake in T-Mobile.
Since then, Bloomberg reported that Softbank’s CEO was meeting with a handful of big banks to talk about financing the deal, while Reuter’s said that the two companies are nearing the end of their negotiations for a deal. Simply put, it looks more and more like this might actually happen.
While emotions are flaring from both T-Mobile and Sprint subscribers about the implications for both carriers should the deal proceed, Pocketables readers seem to take a more balanced approach: according to our informal poll results, 50% of respondents want Sprint to proceed with the acquisition, 40% don’t, and 10% remain undecided.
Some of you commented that the FCC would probably stand in the way of such a deal, citing AT&T’s previous attempt at merging with T-Mobile, only to be told that the US needs four major wireless carriers in order to remain competitive for consumers. Some of you questioned whether or not Sprint really needs T-Mobile, or whether Softbank is doing this just out of fear of losing its number 3 position in the US.
In any case, we’ll know soon enough whether this deal will actually happen. We’ll also find out if another company might be interested in starting a bidding war over T-Mobile, as well (maybe Dish Network?). 2014 is shaping up to be an interesting year for the nation’s fourth largest mobile carrier.
