5 possible conditions on the Sprint / T-Mobile merger

Sprint and T-Mobile continue to work to obtain regulatory approval for their proposed merger. But, according to some analysts, don't expect the discussion to turn to conditions—including divestitures—until later in 2018. “We would not be surprised to see opponents refrain from offering conditions in these initial rounds of filings,” wrote the analysts at Wall Street firm New Street Research. “Generally, the opposition wants to push to kill the deal and only offer conditions as a last resort. There are many good reasons for such a strategy, but the biggest one is that one has to paint a picture of the horrors to arise and offering conditions at this time undercuts the clarity of images of problems to come.” The firm said that there are five major conditions hanging over the T-Mobile and Sprint transaction:

1. Spectrum: Sprint and T-Mobile may be required to divest significant spectrum holdings in order to get approval for their deal. Interestingly, the analysts at Wells Fargo also noted that such a divestiture could enable the creation of a smaller wireless provider.
2. Opposition from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and wholesale dealers
3. Jobs: Although Sprint and T-Mobile have promised to increase the number of employees if their merger is approved, the New Street analysts said that this remains a concern in the Trump administration.
4. Interoperability: Sprint and T-Mobile could be required to ensure that their phones are interoperable with those of other carriers. 
5. Foreign ownership. Because Sprint’s parent is Japanese carrier SoftBank and T-Mobile's parent company is Germany's Deutsche Telekom, foreign ownership could become an issue in any transaction.