Sprint rebounding with MVNO arrangement with Altice USA
The months of will they, won’t they speculation then formal discussions between Sprint parent SoftBank and T-Mobile US parent Deutsche Telekom are officially done.
The two sides couldn’t agree on terms regarding pricing and corporate governance of a combined entity, prompting SoftBank Chairman CEO Masayoshi Son to scrap the potential deal. Now, the Japanese conglomerate is upping its investment in the U.S. carrier.
“We are entering an era where billions of new connected devices and sensors will come online throughout the United States,” Son said. “Sprint is a critical part of our plan to ensure that we can deliver our vision to American consumers, and we are very confident in its future.”
Sprint President and CEO and SoftBank Board member Marcelo Claure said: “While we couldn’t reach an agreement to combine our companies, we certainly recognize the benefits of scale through a potential combination. However, we have agreed that it is best to move forward on our own. We know we have significant assets, including our rich spectrum holdings, and are accelerating significant investments in our network to ensure our continued growth. As convergence in the connectivity marketplace continues, we believe significant opportunities exist to establish strong partnerships across multiple industries. We are determined to continue our efforts to change the wireless industry and compete fiercely. We look forward to continuing to take the fight to the duopoly and newly emerging competitors.”
T-Mobile US CEO John Leger said: “The prospect of combining with Sprint has been compelling for a variety of reasons, including the potential to create significant benefits for consumers and value for shareholders. However, we have been clear all along that a deal with anyone will have to result in superior long-term value for T-Mobile’s shareholders compared to our outstanding stand-alone performance and track record. Going forward, T-Mobile will continue disrupting this industry and bringing our proven Un-carrier strategy to more customers and new categories – ultimately redefining the mobile Internet as we know it. We’ve been out-growing this industry for the last 15 quarters, delivering outstanding value for shareholders, and driving significant change across wireless. We won’t stop now.”
Legere made that statement on Nov. 4. Then, on Sunday, the social media-savvy CEO took to Twitter to share a recipe for Maine corn chowder. Meanwhile, Sprint on Nov. 5, in line with its comments regarding industry partnerships, announced plans to launch an MVNO with Altice USA. Per Sprint, “Altice USA will utilize Sprint’s network to provide mobile voice and data services to its customers throughout the nation, and Sprint will leverage the Altice USA broadband platform to accelerate the densification of its network.”
