A better case for the Sprint/T-Mobile merger

[Commentary] There are strong arguments in favor of allowing the third largest US wireless carrier, Sprint, to acquire the fourth, T-Mobile, but Sprint Chairman (and Softbank CEO) Masayoshi Son's assertion that current performance of the US mobile market is "terrible" isn't among them.

Perhaps he should visit more often -- or try using a different provider. The reality is that the US mobile broadband market is one of the most competitive, and best performing, in the world. More than 90 percent of US households have coverage from next generation LTE wireless networks, which are now being deployed by all the major US carriers, including Sprint and T-Mobile. That puts the US in a virtual tie with Japan and South Korea for the most widely available mobile broadband coverage in the world. The US is also tied with Japan for the highest LTE penetration, with 20 percent of subscribers using LTE connections. Only South Korea, at 46 percent, has more.

International pricing comparisons for mobile broadband services are notoriously difficult, thanks to variations in business models (some countries rely more heavily on handset subsidies than others) and usage (Americans use twice as much mobile data as Europeans). But according to the OECD, which surveys prices for a variety of different bundles and service, US prices are lower than those in Japan for nearly every basket, and lower on average by 35 percent.

[Eisenach is director of the American Enterprise Institute's Center for Internet, Telecommunications, and Technology Policy]

[March 11]