Softbank’s Sprint ends merger talks with T-Mobile

November 5, 2017

Tokyo- U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Corp., a subsidiary of Japan's Softbank Group Corp. , said Saturday that it has terminated merger talks with industry peer T-Mobile US Inc.

The two sides failed to close the gap over who should control the entity emerging from the merger between Sprint, the fourth-largest carrier in the United States, and No. 3 player T-Mobile, which is under the wing of Deutsche Telekom AG.

The end of the negotiations makes it necessary for Softbank to change its strategy to realign the U.S. communications industry.

The U.S. mobile communications market is led by top player Verizon Communications Inc. and No. 2 player AT&T Inc.

Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son aimed to create a third force that can rival Verizon and AT&T.

At first, the Japanese telecommunications group was ready to let Deutsche Telekom take control of the new entity.

But Softbank later judged that the group should not lose control of its communications network in the United States amid the rapid development of Internet of Things technologies.

Softbank decided to stop the negotiations at a board meeting Oct. 27. After that, T-Mobile made a fresh proposal, but Softbank did not change its mind. Jiji Press