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Poll results: Pocketables readers think T-Mobile needs to merge, and they would have preferred Sprint

Poll resultsEarlier this month, we asked you about your thoughts on a possible T-Mobile merger with some other company. After getting news that Sprint and Softbank had retracted their offer, media outlets started reporting that Dish Network was once again getting serious about a bid for T-Mobile. Dish’s chairman Charlie Ergen had apparently contacted Deutsche Telekom to indicate his interest in acquiring T-Mobile US, and he allegedly waited until Sprint’s and Softbank’s plans fell apart. He still hasn’t made a formal bid for the company yet, though.

Dish is the second-largest U.S. satellite-TV provider and is sitting on quite a bit of nationwide spectrum that it has yet to put to any use. Additionally, T-Mobile is planning to bid in the upcoming AWS spectrum, and Dish wouldn’t want to make an offer until that auction is complete. Combining with T-Mobile would immediately give Dish access to a nationwide network that it could begin supplementing with its own spectrum, which would allow the satellite company to begin offering mobile video services as a way to challenge the existing traditional cable/satellite TV model.

But is that really the best option for T-Mobile? Would Sprint have been better? Or could T-Mobile survive on its own?

The results are in, and I have to admit I’m somewhat surprised – but perhaps I shouldn’t be, given such a large percentage of our readers are Sprint fans. The vast majority of you – over 73% – said that T-Mobile needed to merge with someone. And of that, over 57% said that someone was Sprint and Softbank – that T-Mobile needed them to turn into a true competitor for AT&T and Verizon. The others who voted for a merger thought that Dish would actually be the least horrible option for T-Mobile.

Of the remaining poll respondents, only 2% said that T-Mobile should look at other merger options, like Iliad in France (no surprise there), although almost one quarter of the respondents – a very sizable minority – said that T-Mobile doesn’t need a merger. It can continue to grow and be successful on its own.

Did you vote in our poll? What do you think?

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John F

John was the editor-in-chief at Pocketables. His articles generally focus on all things Google, including Chrome and Android, although his love of new gadgets and technology doesn't stop there. His current arsenal includes the Nexus 6 by Motorola, the 2013 Nexus 7 by ASUS, the Nexus 9 by HTC, the LG G Watch, and the Chromebook Pixel, among others.

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