It appears that major wireless carriers T-Mobile and Sprint are at it again -- initiating merger negotiations anew, at least according to a report recently published by the Wall Street Journal. As indicated in the report, the talks are said to be in the early stages, which means that an agreement between the two parties is not to be expected as of the moment.
It was back in November of last year when it was reported that merger talks between the third and fourth biggest wireless service providers in the United States had failed. During that time, the two carriers reportedly could not agree on an acceptable value to be assigned for the 2.5 GigaHertz spectrum assets owned by Sprint.
There were reports suggesting that if the merger negotiations did not collapse, T-Mobile would have proceeded to discontinue about 30 percent of all of Sprint’s existing cellular sites, and then move to roll out Sprint’s 2.5 GigaHertz spectrum across America. But due to the fact no deal was made, Sprint is now keeping itself busy with its own 2.5 GigaHertz spectrum build out, thanks to a $6 billion cash infusion from SoftBank, the parent company of Sprint.
But with news of another round of merger talks between T-Mobile and Sprint, there is renewed excitement (and speculation) over how such a union could impact the wireless industry in the United States, especially with regards to how the merged entity might be challenging the dominance of Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
Speaking of AT&T, the number two mobile operator in America has recently shared some results of its 5G speed tests, by way of a blog post written by Melissa Arnoldi, the president of AT&T Technology and Operations. Based on one of its 5G trials that were conducted in the city of Kalamazoo in Michigan, the carrier found that weather conditions such as rain and snow have no impact on 5G millimeter wave signal quality. In a separate round of field tests done in Waco, Texas, a latency rate of 9 to 12 milliseconds was produced.
It is no secret that AT&T is eager to start offering its 5G service soon, and has even hinted that it might start rolling out 5G pucks (which basically serve as mobile 5G hotspots) before the end of the year. The mobile operator has certainly been busy the last few months testing its 5G product, and had even announced last year that it will be expanding its fixed wireless tests to end users and business owners in Waco (Texas), Kalamazoo (Michigan), and South Bend (Indiana).
