Sprint CEO Says Company Will Wait To Consider Mergers

For Sprint Nextel, now isn’t the time for a merger.

“Clearly, the time is not ideal based upon where our shares are currently trading,” said Chief Executive Dan Hesse. Still, Hesse said he thought regulators would be willing to consider wireless industry mergers, despite blocking the $39 billion tie-up last year of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. In February, Sprint nearly approved a deal to buy pay-as-you-go rival MetroPCS Communications, and last year it considered buying Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile, according to people familiar with those discussions. Like its competitors, Sprint is seeking access to more of the wireless airwaves, or spectrum, that fuel customer and revenue growth. The carrier is focused on its ongoing $5 billion network upgrade project, Hesse said. Ideally, Sprint would concentrate on the project through next year, then “let’s talk about consolidation in 2014 when we have this behind us,” he said, noting that he hoped the carrier’s stock price would improve relative to its competitors.