More than one year after it was announced, it's looking like the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint is getting close to completion.
A new report says that Dish Network is close to spending at least $6 billion on assets from T-Mobile and Sprint. These assets would include wireless spectrum and Boost Mobile, say sources speaking to Bloomberg.
T-Mobile and Sprint have already agreed to sell Boost Mobile in order to help their merger get approval from the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice, both of which must approve the merger before it can actually happen. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has already publicly come out in support of the deal, but DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim is still reviewing the merger.
Rumors have said that in order to gain Delrahim's stamp of approval, T-Mobile and Sprint must help to create a fourth U.S. carrier that would be competitive in the market. Dish Network already owns quite a bit of spectrum, and buy purchasing Boost Mobile and some more airwaves from T-Mo and Sprint, it could create its own wireless carrier in the U.S. However, no one really knows much about Dish's plans to launch a U.S. carrier.
T-Mobile and Sprint are likely getting desperate to get their merger done. Not only have they tried unsuccessfully to merge in the past, but they seem to be close to crossing the finish line now, having already gained support from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Because of this, it would come as no surprise that T-Mo and Sprint would be willing to give up spectrum in order to push their merger across the finish line.
When it comes to the DOJ, a report from CNN Business says that the agency could approve the T-Mobile-Sprint merger as soon as the end of this week or the beginning of next week. Negotiations are still ongoing, though, and the DOJ is reportedly ready to litigate against the deal if those negotiations fall through. The T-Mobile-Sprint merger is already facing a lawsuit from 10 state attorneys general who want to block the merger, so that lawsuit could either be weakened or strengthened depending on what the DOJ decides about the merger.
