Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
What does a T Mobile Sprint merger mean for you?
Amrich Damiro.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This is Rich on Tech Daily.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
While in case you haven't heard, T Mobile announced it's
buying Sprint for twenty six billion dollars. The combined company
would be named T Mobile, and T Mobile CEO John
Ledger would continue as CEO of the new company. The
two companies are saying that this will be a big
deal for five G, you know, the next generation wireless network,
and the new company is going to be a force
(00:31):
for positive change in the US wireless video and broadband markets.
Remember T Mobile recently bought a cable company called Layer three. Now,
the big thing these two companies are saying is that
they will build a five G network faster than their competition.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Can. They certainly have the spectrum to do this.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
They estimate that they can get speeds fifteen times faster
nationwide by twenty twenty four, with lots of customers getting
speeds one hundred times faster than early four G, which
sounds really good, but let's be honest, early four G
was pretty slow. The two companies say they're going to
spend up to forty billion dollars in the first three
years to invest in their new network and businesses, which
(01:08):
is forty six percent more than T Mobile and Sprint
spent combined in the past three years. And what I
love about facts and figures like this is how in
the past T Mobile would always send out press releases
saying how they're spending so much on their network, but
now apparently all that was not enough. Of course, the
question we all want answers to This sounds great for
the two companies, but what about me and my bill
(01:30):
and my phone. For starters, T Mobile and Sprint run
two different types of networks. T Mobile is GSM, Sprint
is CDMA, but both of them use the newer technology
called LTE. According to reports, about twenty million phones used
by Sprint customers can work on both kinds of networks.
This includes recent iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, so some
(01:51):
folks would see increased coverage immediately from both networks. Other
customers might have to upgrade their phones to take advantage
of a new roaming deal. As for plans, customers would
probably be able to keep their current plans. Sprint's cheapest
is sixty dollars a month for unlimited. T Mobile is
seventy dollars a month. Both also offer add ons like
HD Video for an extra ten dollars a month. But
(02:12):
here's what usually happens in circumstances like this. Yes, you
can keep your plan grandfathered in, but usually the company,
the new company is going to offer something slightly better
for a similar price, just so they can get folks
on a new plan which is less confusing.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So that's what I would expect to happen.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I would expect to see the new Tea Mobile offer
some sort of compelling combined plan to entice new customers
out of the gate, since they will promote increased coverage
across both networks. Now, when it comes to the new
five G network they're promising, which could be really fast
and really a game changer that would definitely require a
new device, But that is still a ways off, so
you've got lots.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Of time to figure that one out.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
So what about all the perks you might get as
a subscriber of either Sprint or T Mobile. You know,
T Mobile has those Tuesdays with all the benefit and
that free Netflix offer, plus Sprint offers FREEHLU to customers.
Then you've got Google's Project five, which combines both networks
into one and many more carriers that latch onto these
two networks, they call him MVNOs.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
All of these deals would probably be up.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
In the air at some point, maybe at renewal time,
but probably not immediately. Keep in mind, this will be
a new company that doesn't have to prove as much
as the old Sprint and Tea Mobile did when they
were separate and trying to win over customers. This time around,
they will actually have a pretty decent network to put
up a good fight, So that leaves the biggest question
will this deal be approved? While perhaps the President's silence
(03:39):
on Twitter says a lot, we've heard nothing yet about
a challenge from the administration, and the focus on a
five G network seems right in line with what the
President has talked about wanting before, although he is not
a huge fan of foreign ownership, especially in the communications sector,
and with the new Team Mobile, we'd have a German
and Japanese company having lots of ConTroll over the new company.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
That's gonna do it for this episode of the show.
If you liked the podcast, please leave a rating and
review in the Apple.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Podcast sapp and tell your friends I'm Richie Dmairo You
can find links to everything I talk about here at
richontech dot TV.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I'll talk to you real soon.