Business & Economy

T-Mobile, Sprint complete mega-merger

New York, Apr 1 (efe-epa).- US wireless operator T-Mobile US Inc. said in a news release Wednesday that it has finalized its acquisition of longtime rival Sprint, a mega-merger that it says creates a “supercharged” combined company that will deliver a “transformative 5G network” with 14 times more capacity in six years than standalone T-Mobile has today.

The merged company’s enhanced scale and financial strength will drive a planned investment of $40 billion into its network, business and more over the next three years, it said.

With the close of the merger of the United States’ third- and fourth-biggest mobile operators, Mike Sievert will take over as CEO of the New T-Mobile. He will replace John Legere, who had headed the company since 2012 and will stay on as a member of the board of directors until June of this year.

The two companies announced their plans to merge in 2018 and the Federal Communications Commission gave its stamp of approval in November of last year.

The final hurdle was cleared in February when a New York judge ruled against a lawsuit filed in June of last year by attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia.

That suit had alleged that the $26.5 billion deal would reduce competition and lead to higher phone bills for consumers.

The merger creates a telecommunications giant capable of competing with leading US wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon.

In its news release, T-Mobile US Inc., whose parent company is Deutsche Telekom AG, stressed its “commitment to building the world’s best broad and deep nationwide 5G network, which will bring lightning-fast speeds to urban areas and under-served rural communities alike” and offer “better service at lower prices.”

The company promised that network would be a “quantum leap forward,” adding that it is only achievable “by using T-Mobile and Sprint’s combined low-, mid- and high-spectrum bands – and only the New T-Mobile will have the resources to do it quickly.”

It added that “synergies achieved from the integration have the potential to unlock massive scale and unleash at least $43 billion in value for shareholders.”

T-Mobile said the greatly expanded capacity of that 5G network will “enable the New T-Mobile to leapfrog the competition in network capability and experience,” adding that “customers will have access to average 5G speeds up to eight times faster than current LTE in just a few years and 15 times faster over the next six years.”

The company also said that within six years the New T-Mobile will provide 5G to 99 percent of the US population and average 5G speeds in excess of 100 megabits per second to 90 percent of the US population.

Rural areas of the US will be big beneficiaries, the release said, with people in those regions to be covered with “average 5G speeds of 50 Mbps, up to two times faster than broadband on average.”

T-Mobile’s shares, which trade on the Nasdaq, rose on the announcement of the completion of the merger and were up 1.47 percent at the close of the trading day on Wednesday. EFE-EPA

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