Alex Sherman, from Bloomberg News, reported on the recent move by Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) to allow its users to test its network for a free trial period of 30 days, compared to T-Mobile US Inc.’s (NYSE:TMUS) trail period offer of seven days with an Apple iPhone 5s.
Sherman said that the recent promotional offer by sprint casts its shadow over the expected merger between T-Mobile US Inc.’s (NYSE:TMUS) and Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S).
“[…] You wonder if regulators are looking at a deal down the road and they are seeing the no. 3 and the no. 4 company competing like this and pushing the ball forward toward consumer friendly plans, why would they accept a merger?” he stated.
He added that if both are companies are continuing to beat competition in the market by introducing customer friendly plans, then competitors as Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) and the telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) would stand to lose out on the competition front if Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE:TMUS) come together as a single force.
According to Sherman, the regulators are going to have a tough time deciding on which merger deal to approve and which not, because if the U.S. telecom regulator (FCC) approves an already giant company like AT&T to merge with DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV), then even Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile US Inc.’s (NYSE:TMUS), would take this as a base to argue their point of going for a merger deal, which is expected in August this year.
“So, regulators are going to have multiple things going on in their head when they decide [about approving the deals],” Sherman added.
Speaking about the possibility of a merger between Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE:TMUS), Sherman said:
“Masayoshi Son, [founder of Japan’s SoftBank that owns Sprint] and Deutsche Telekom [the owner of T-Mobile, the two of them are pulling the strings, and we hear that John Legere (CEO of T-Mobile) is going to be the CEO of this new company.”
Sherman added that Legere is involved in the strategy and decisions, and, moreover, his personality also has undergone a change recently, as per what Sherman has known from other people.
Azentus Capital Management, led by Morgan Sze has 12.24% of its equity portfolio invested in Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) that is comprised of 1.73 million shares. Leon Cooperman‘s Omega Advisors holds 43.24 million shares of Sprint, valued at $397.33 million.
Disclosure: none
