Sprint CEO talks consolidation, corporate responsibility

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse won't comment on speculation his company is preparing to merge with T-Mobile, but he will say that having a third large US mobile company that could rival the size of AT&T and Verizon would be a good thing.

Speculation has been swirling that Sprint, the third largest US wireless carrier, would acquire T-Mobile in a blockbuster deal valued anywhere from $31 billion to $50 billion.

If Sprint were to make such a move, one of the biggest roadblocks would the reluctance of US, regulators to let the US mobile market shrink from four major players to three. "I can't talk specifically about any particular potential merger, but I do think that the US wireless industry would be healthier and consumers would be better off with three strong competitors vs. basically a duopoly, which is what you have today," Hesse told USA TODAY. Hesse said a third competitor would drive prices down and might also motivate AT&T and Verizon to innovate more.

He added that a third major competitor might be able to build networks in rural and suburban US communities that are currently only serviced by AT&T and Verizon. "If you combined, let's say, Sprint and T-Mobile together, there would be enough customers to build a third network," he said.