Sprint Discusses Concerns with AT&T's Acquisition of T-Mobile, Plans to Fight It

The elephant in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida has been the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. CTIA has been all abuzz this week with talk about whether or not the deal will go through, what could happen, and how long it would take. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has been more than forthcoming in his opinion of the potential merger, and it's certainly not a positive one.

The CEO for Sprint mentioned at CTIA that if the deal goes through, 79% of the country's wireless subscribers would be in the hands of 2 carriers. Such a move would stifle innovation; AT&T would have “tremendous power” and as such would hold every possible advantage over the other two companies, not to mention become the only nationwide GSM carrier.

Sprint's shares dropped 14 percent on Monday, the day after the news of the acquisition was released. But the third-largest US wireless provider isn't just going to lay down and let the acquisition just happen; instead, Sprint plans to officially submit its concerns to Congress.

Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president at AT&T, said in response to Hesse's concerns:

It is clear that AT&T is going to have a long and hard fight ahead of them if they hope to successfully acquire T-Mobile.

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