T-Mobile and MetroPCS talking merger

Update: Both boards have approved the merger. It will actually be MetroPCS doing the acquiring, though they will only own 26 percent of the new entity. They’ll lose the name, too, as the new company will be called T-Mobile. According to the press release, found via Phone Scoop, MetroPCS plans will “complement T-Mobile’s offerings” in some areas, so it’s still unclear how they’ll proceed in terms of postpaid and prepaid. There will be plenty of details to come about in the next few months, as we await approval from government regulators. Of all the potential suitors to acquire MetroPCS, T-Mobile seemed the least likely. Sprint is larger and has a greater need to beef up operations, while Dish Network could use MetroPCS to launch a cellular network with instant subscribers. Yet according to a recent report, T-Mobile is indeed the company with the strongest indication towards acquiring or merging with MetroPCS. Ina Fried at All Things D has the report. Straight from Deutche Telekom’s website:

Deutsche Telekom is holding talks with the listed company MetroPCS with the aim of operating its subsidiary T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS within one company in which Deutsche Telekom would hold the majority of shares.

Such a combination might prove a logistical nightmare, with T-Mobile’s GSM network and MetroPCS’s CDMA holdings, which include both legacy and AWS markets, plus LTE. Everything is moving towards LTE, though, so at least the combined company would have a common endpoint. They’re still hammering out issues, apparently, and no proposal has been taken to DK’s board. What makes this all the more interesting is Sprint’s self-rejected bid to acquire MetroPCS earlier this year. Can T-Mobile pull off that deal instead and thrive? It might be their greatest remaining hope.]]>