There is a Sprint/T-Mobile Merger in the making, and there’s a few things we need to ask ourselves first. As consumers, is this going to be a good thing or a bad thing? For the companies, mixing a couple of the weaker links should, in theory, add up to a much stronger company, but that may not necessarily be the case. In fact, it could make for an even weaker link.

Two problems to face

There are always problems with any kind of merger, but the problems seem even worse with the Sprint/T-Mobile Merger. According to PC Magazine, here are two reasons this merger won’t go as smoothly as everyone hopes:

Technology

First of all, any technology company that is about to merge with another technology company needs to consider this. The phones may not be compatible, and combining technology will be much more of a headache than you might know. Both Sprint and T-Mobile have been working hard on their own technology paths for years and will have a hard time trying to make everything work in one line. On top of that, according to PC Magazine, Sprint’s history shows it is not very good at making any kind of changes.

The other question is which company is going to be willing to give up current technology and move to the other one. Since we already know most of their technology isn’t compatible, and one of them is going to have to give up what they already know to make the transition as smooth as possible, one of them is going to end up losing. There can’t be two heads to one snake, or it will never get anywhere. The same applies to this merger. One of the two companies is going to come out on top while the other one loses everything it knows. This same thing applies to the marketing strategies of both companies, which are very well-known for their different marketing campaigns.

Consumers

As far as consumers are concerned, this Sprint/T-Mobile Merger is not a good thing. The first reason is because fewer carriers means less competition, and less competition means higher prices. There is a good chance there will be increased prices after the merger, with both the newly-merged company and with the competition. On top of that, people know the Sprint and T-Mobile companies as separate for their marketing strategies. For example, T-Mobile is known for its speedy girl dressed in pink, and Sprint is known for the unlimited everything commercials. The strengths of both companies could bring together a fast and unlimited network, but only after they have battled the difference in technology and the difference of opinion on how things should be run.

In the end

It will be interesting to see where things go from here and whether or not all works out as planned. For one, it could mean utter disaster for both companies, which is much more likely considering the above circumstances. On the other hand, it could work out really well. If they are able to combine cell phone towers and offer competitive pricing, they might actually be able to top the list of top cell phone carriers.

Source: PC Magazine