T-Mobile and Sprint can bear antitrust pain

SAN FRANCISCO: T-Mobile US and Sprint can cope with some antitrust bruises. The telecom firms have yet to convince U.S. officials over their merger. They may have to make cuts, like selling T-Mobile’s prepaid unit or spectrum. Bigger rivals Verizon Communications and AT&T are already diversifying. Unless trustbusters get draconian, combining is the best bet.

As mergers go, this one has a now-or-never feel. Sprint and T-Mobile attempted to merge in 2014, but talks collapsed after regulators at both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission criticized the deal with unusual bluntness. Officials were concerned about the mobile phone market downsizing to only three major players. Negotiations failed again in 2017. Finally a year ago the two companies, with a combined market capitalization of $88 billion as of Tuesday’s close, announced their current all-stock deal.

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