The merger of T-Mobile and Sprint could soon gain U.S. Department of Justice approval. Announcement of the approval of the $26.5 billion merger could be released as soon as Wednesday.
Any such deal would require the creation of a fourth wireless competitor, says a CNBC report. The reports sources indicated that fourth carrier would be Dish, which would be free to sell an equity stake to anyone it wishes. The new carrier would be unlikely to face the limitations T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom has requested, as the DOJ desires a genuine competitive fourth carrier in the U.S. carrier market.
That fourth carrier could also absorb Sprint prepaid brand Boost Mobile. While initially relying on T-Mobile’s network, the new carrier will eventually switch to its own 5G network when the sharing agreement ends, likely in 6 or 7 years. As compensation for sharing its network, T-Mobile is expected to receive about half of the revenue from each person signing up to Dish’s wireless service.
Dish currently provides television service via satellite and the Sling streaming service, but has had ambitions to become a mobile carrier for the last decade or so.
There are still possible stumbling blocks that could take down the merger deal, as Sprint and T-Mobile have a self-imposed deadline of July 29 to complete the deal, and a lawsuit by 13 state attorneys general, plus the District of Columbia could block the deal on competitive grounds.