It has been rumored that Sprint is interested in acquiring T-Mobile, the “uncarrier” that made a number of bold decisions this past year. There’s no doubt in the fact that T-Mobile’s popularity has increased in 2013, and as it looks towards the new year and its upcoming uncarrier 4.0 announcement, the possibility exists that it might be acquired by Sprint, effectively turning the latter into the third largest U.S. carrier. According to the latest from Nikkei, talks between both carriers have reportedly entered the final stages.
So far no official confirmation or comments have been made regarding this rumored merger. AT&T pursued a similar bid for T-Mobile in the past, offering $39 billion for it only to be turned down by regulators. That deal fell through a couple of years back and it was only earlier this year when rumors about Sprint’s interest in T-Mobile started circulating. It is believed that Softbank CEO is already courting five financial institutions to obtain financing to the tune of $20 billion for the T-Mobile acquisition. Softbank has already acquired Sprint, which right now is trailing behind AT&T. Having T-Mobile’s infrastructure and subscriber base on board would allow it to effectively compete against the behemoths in this industry. Rumor has it that if the acquisition goes through, we can expect it to close by the end of the first half of 2014.