T-Mobile has completed its planned merger with Sprint in the US, with John Legere handing over the CEO reins to Mike Sievert, former COO.
The new entity will be known as T-Mobile and means the US now only has three major carriers alongside AT&T and Verizon.
The merger was officially cleared in February and has today been completed following legal hurdles.
“During this extraordinary time, it has become abundantly clear how vital a strong and reliable network is to the world we live in. The New T-Mobile’s commitment to delivering a transformative broad and deep nationwide 5G network is more important and more needed than ever and what we are building is mission-critical for consumers,” said Mike Sievert, president and CEO.
“With this powerful network, the New T-Mobile will deliver real choice and value to wireless and home broadband customers and double down on all the things customers have always loved about the Un-carrier. T-Mobile has been changing wireless for good — and now we are going to do it on a whole new level!”
It was John Legere, CEO since 2012, who helped shape T-Mobile’s image into one of a disruptor, undercutting its rivals on price and customer friendly launches under the Un-carrier branding. He took the company from comfortably fourth in the market behind Sprint to the T-Mobile that has just acquired it.
For the merger to be allowed, T-Mobile has had to make some big promises including promising low-band 5G coverage for 99% of the US within six years . Within the same time frame it has also aimed to deliver an in-home wireless internet service.
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
Recent stories by Henry Burrell:
- HTC CEO resigns after one year in the role
- Intel revamps its logo and famous jingle
- Zoom posts huge second quarter revenue boost
A US court ruling has approved T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of Sprint, leaving the third and fourth largest mobile operators in the US free to merge.
The New York Times reported that the ruling judge, Judge Victor Marrero of United States District Court in Manhattan praised T-Mobile at the ruling, saying the company is “a maverick that has spurred the two largest players in its industry to make numerous pro-consumer changes”.
The merger is set to close by 1 April.
In a statement published on Tuesday, Legere said in typical gung-ho fashion, “Look out, Dumb and Dumber and Big Cable — we are coming for you … and you haven’t seen anything yet!”, referring to AT&T and Verizon. Current President and COO of T-Mobile Mike Sievert will become CEO when Legere leaves on 1 May.
As previously reported by Bloomberg , Sprint is expected to be able to sell its subsidiary Boost Mobile along with spectrum assets to satellite TV provider Dish as part of the deal to allow Dish to grow into the fourth major carrier. The merger was unlikely to go ahead if this detail had not been reached as competition authorities assessed the impact on consumers of a shrinking telecoms marketplace.
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
Recent stories by Henry Burrell:
- HTC CEO resigns after one year in the role
- Intel revamps its logo and famous jingle
- Zoom posts huge second quarter revenue boost
