{"id":654835,"date":"2013-04-25T12:51:20","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T16:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mobilemoo.com\/?p=28774"},"modified":"2013-04-25T12:51:20","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T16:51:20","slug":"metropcs-board-approves-t-mobile-merger-further-consolidating-us-wireless-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/654835","title":{"rendered":"MetroPCS Board Approves T-Mobile Merger, Further Consolidating US Wireless Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

For T-Mobile, it is a move necessary to gain traction. For the past three-plus years, the No. 4 carrier in America has made many attempts to bridge the gap. They’ve introduced new plans a number of times — it feels like dozens. They’ve run aggressive marketing campaigns touting the speed of their network. If it’s in the wireless marketing playbook, they’ve tried it. They even ran an end-around play<\/a>, but still haven’t gained their desired traction.<\/p>\n

Yes, they’re the No. 4 carrier in America, but they’re a distant fourth. At 33.9 million subscribers they trail No. 3 Sprint by more than 20 million. At this point in the game, attracting that many subscribers is a nearly impossible task. The bulk would have to come from not only Sprint, but also Verizon and AT&T — both of which boast over 100 million subscribers. But why would more than 20 million subscribers leave these larger, more reliable, and more convenient networks? Such is T-Mobile’s dilemma.<\/p>\n

Last year they proposed a solution: a merger with MetroPCS. In the past this might not have worked as well. Before LTE started to cover America, MetroPCS and T-Mobile used different technologies to power their networks. But with converging technologies, the merger is a bit more feasible. Still, it leaves the combined company with a deficit. MetroPCS will add around 9 million subscribers, meaning Sprint will still have a more than 10 million subscriber advantage.<\/p>\n

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At the same time, Sprint will likely make a move of its own soon enough. After a lucrative buyout offer from Japanese carrier Softbank, Sprint received a competing offer from Dish Network<\/a>. The latter makes the situation even more interesting, given Dish’s existing wireless holdings and a long-held desire to get into the consumer cellular market. The combined company won’t gain many subscribers over Sprint, but it could breathe new life into a company that hasn’t made much progress in the past few years. <\/p>\n

The culture of mergers and acquisitions will likely continue. Spectrum is rare, and even with a spectrum auction in the offing<\/a>, many carriers will find it more efficient to simply acquire another company’s spectrum and subscribers. We saw this with the spectrum auction in early 2008. Verizon and AT&T were expected to compete for the attractive C block, but Verizon ended up having the run of it because AT&T decided to pursue acquisitions. <\/p>\n

There are still a number of smaller and regional carriers that could be acquisition targets in the next year or so:<\/p>\n