Sprint’s name has been mentioned in quite a few acquisition and merger scenarios, and now their CEO has said that they are still open to working with T-Mobile or “a group of cable companies”. But he did also mention that since they have the support of SoftBank, “consolidation is not a must for us” while it is for other companies in the industry. In the wireless industry, consolidation has been a popular topic in the past decade or so. AT&T and Verizon have picked up a number of regional carriers already, including Cricket and Alltel. Meanwhile T-Mobile picked up MetroPCS back in 2012. Now AT&T did try to buy T-Mobile, only for regulators to block it, and Sprint had wanted to do the same thing, but decided not too. So while consolidation is a big deal for a lot of other companies out there, Sprint doesn’t see it necessary to them.
While they aren’t looking for consolidation as soon as possible, Sprint is still open to work on a deal with T-Mobile or a group of cable companies. Claure does still think that a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile would make a much more competitive player to AT&T and Verizon. After all, it’s really Sprint and T-Mobile that are driving the changes in the wireless industry right now. Claure did also mention that working with a group of cable companies would be ideal as well. Likely hinting at what Comcast and Charter recently announced, which was a deal that they would work together to enter the wireless space. Comcast has actually already entered wireless, but not completely. They are operating XFINITY Mobile under a MVNO agreement they have with Verizon. Charter is going to be doing the same thing, but they have yet to announce their wireless network.
Sprint does have backup from SoftBank, they do need to find a way to bring in some more cash, as well as growing their business. They’ve done a great job at cutting costs and also working to keep their customers on their network in recent quarters. But shareholders are demanding more from the nation’s fourth largest carrier, and that’s no surprise.