T-Mobile and MetroPCS Merger: If You Can’t Join Them, Beat Them

Written by Larry Press

T-Mobile and MetroPCS. 42.5 million subscribers. Good for consumers? Larry Press looks at the combined company, also called T-Mobile, and what to expect.

T-Mobile and MetroPCS have plan to merge. The combined company, to be called T-Mobile, will have 42.5 million subscribers. That’s 33.2 million from T-Mobile and 9.3 million from MetroPCS.


Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Last year, the FCC struck down AT&T’s attempt to buy T-Mobile. But this latest deal looks like a win for T-Mobile and MetroPCS — and more importantly, it’s a win for consumers.

MetroPCS was the first U.S. operator to deploy LTE. That experience will also pay off for the merged company. Big time.

“T-Mobile USA can take advantage of the fast-growing prepaid market, which drives a good portion of the US carriers’ total net adds today,” says Julien Blin, directing analyst at Infonetics research. “The merger gives MetroPCS the scale they need to offer a true nationwide LTE network.”

The bottom line: Sprint and T-Mobile and retail operators that resell their services will bring some competition to the mobile marketplace.