T-Mobile and Sprint Have Merged

UPDATE 8/3/2020:

The Sprint brand has been fully incorporated into T-Mobile, and its customers and stores are now officially operating under the T-Mobile brand. Learn more about how this will affect new and existing customers below.

T-Mobile & Sprint Merger: Current Situation

T-Mobile's acquisition of Sprint has finally come to fruition after two years of legal hurdles. T-Mobile had to make a number of network related commitments in order to get the deal through. With the Sprint and T-Mobile networks becoming one massive network, the Uncarrier (can we phase out that moniker yet?) is touting the following:

14x more network capacity
The roll out of T-Mobile's 5G network to 99% of Americans over the next 6 years
Planned coverage of 90% of rural America with the 5G network, with average speeds of 50 Mbps

Plan changes have been rolled out gradually; as of August 2, 2020, the Sprint brand has been fully phased out, and all stores and customers are now incorporated into the T-Mobile brand. Read on for more on how this will affect new and existing customers.

What Does the Merger Mean for Current Customers?

For current customers, there are three major changes resulting from this latest phase of the merger:

Sprint's main website now redirects users to T-Mobile. While its online support and bill pay tools are still accessible, Sprint customers should expect those assets to also be redirected to T-Mobile's bill pay center in the near future. You may or may not be able to use your existing Sprint log-in information.
Most of Sprint's stores have now been rebranded as T-Mobile locations, with the assurance that the majority will be able to serve both Sprint and T-Mobile customers. Exceptions include Best Buy stores and a few rural retail locations that will maintain Sprint-only service.
Sprint plans are now completely phased out. Current Sprint customers who wish to change their current plan will be redirected to subscribe to a T-Mobile plan. For the moment, though, Sprint customers who wish to keep their same plans can still do so and maintain the same pricing.

As has been the case since the initial roll-out, Sprint customers with compatible phones can now roam on T-Mobile's LTE network when outside of Sprint's coverage. Other changes that will likely come from the full incorporation of the Sprint brand include:

Sprint bills and other communications to be branded T-Mobile
Accounts to be managed by T-Mobile

What to Expect in the Future

More generally, here are some key changes that T-Mobile has promised:

A new 5G network will be created by the New T-Mobile
Current Sprint customer's will experience a huge improvement in network coverage and across the U.S. (Sprint currently has 29% 4G coverage, while T-Mobile has 59% 4G coverage)
The New T-Mobile will offer cheaper cell phone plans, increasing competition and driving prices down across the industry

Additionally, the FCC has required the following changes to happen:

Sprint will sell its Boost Mobile brand
T-Mobile will sell its interest in the Dish Network

#1	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Essentials Saver Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with 50GB of Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices Unlimited mobile hotspot data Deal: Get up to $800 via virtual prepaid MasterCard when you bring an eligible phone, activate a new line on select plans and port-in your number and switch from select carriers $50.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included View Plan	$50.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included	View Plan
#2	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Essentials Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with 50GB of Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices 3GB mobile hotspot data Deal: Get up to $800 via virtual prepaid MasterCard when you bring an eligible phone, activate a new line on select plans and port-in your number and switch from select carriers $60.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included View Plan	$60.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees NOT included	View Plan
#3	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Go5G Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with 100GB of Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices Unlimited mobile hotspot data Deal: Get up to $800 via virtual prepaid MasterCard when you bring an eligible phone, activate a new line on select plans and port-in your number and switch from select carriers $75.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees included View Plan	$75.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees included	View Plan
#4	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Experience More Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with Unlimited Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices Unlimited mobile hotspot data $85.00/mo with Auto-Pay + Taxes and fees View Plan	$85.00/mo with Auto-Pay + Taxes and fees	View Plan
#5	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Go5G Plus Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with Unlimited Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices Unlimited mobile hotspot data Deal: Get up to $800 via virtual prepaid MasterCard when you bring an eligible phone, activate a new line on select plans and port-in your number and switch from select carriers $90.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees included View Plan	$90.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees included	View Plan
#6	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Experience Beyond Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with Unlimited Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices Unlimited mobile hotspot data $100.00/mo with Auto-Pay + Taxes and fees View Plan	$100.00/mo with Auto-Pay + Taxes and fees	View Plan
#7	T-Mobile	T-Mobile Go5G Next Unlimited Unlimited 5G & 4G LTE with Unlimited Premium Data T-Mobile 5G Network in select areas with compatible devices Unlimited mobile hotspot data Deal: Get up to $800 via virtual prepaid MasterCard when you bring an eligible phone, activate a new line on select plans and port-in your number and switch from select carriers $100.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees included View Plan	$100.00/mo with Auto-Pay - Taxes & Fees included	View Plan

What Does the Sprint & T-Mobile Merger Mean for New Customers?

As of August 2, T-Mobile no longer accepts new customers on the Sprint brand, essentially phasing out all Sprint plans. Instead, new T-Mobile/Sprint customers are directed to sign up for a T-Mobile plan.

And as outlined above, if you go looking for a Sprint store, your search will come up empty: most of the carrier's retail locations have now been entirely rebranded as T-Mobile.

What Effects Will the Merger Have on the Industry?

Despite T-Mobile suggesting the merger will drive prices down across the industry, many industry experts beg to differ, saying that the merger could in fact lead to cell phone plans becoming more expensive for consumers, due to less competition.

This year T-Mobile launched a new prepaid plan to compete with cheaper plans from other carriers (including its own MVNOs) which could lead to either theory being correct. Either MVNOs somehow manage to drop their plan pricing down lower than T-Mobile's, or the New T-Mobile's aggressive pricing simply puts MVNOs out of business.

Although the FCC have approved the merger with the conditions (see above), we're not convinced this will be enough to even out the competition.

History of Carrier Merger Deals

Here's some history on merger attempts between cell phone carriers:

AT&T's attempt to buy with T-Mobile:
- March, 2011: AT&T announce plans to buy T-Mobile in a similar merge.
- August, 2011: The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division files a lawsuit to block the takeover.
- December, 2011: AT&T retract their merger bid.
Sprint's attempt to buy T-Mobile:
- December 2013: Sprint announce plans to buy T-Mobile.
- April 2014: Sprint continues talks to buy T-Mobile and meets with lenders to ensure financial ability to complete the deal.
- August 2014: Sprint abandons merger bid.

In both cases above, cell phone carriers abandoned their plans to merge due to doubts about the deal being approved by the Department of Justice.

Chris Holmes

Staff Writer

Chris Holmes is a Contributing Writer for WhistleOut, where he covers the cell phone and internet industries. His work has been cited in publications like The Verge, The New York Times, and WIRED.

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