What’s Next for T-Mobile?

The decision to end AT&T’s attempt to buy T-Mobile comes as a devastating blow to T-Mobile, which has seen steep declines in market share while its rivals AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint won customers with popular devices like the iPhone and Android phones, said Tero Kuittinen, an independent analyst that has followed the telecom industry for years.

Now that the merger has failed, it’s unlikely T-Mobile could court Verizon or Sprint as potential suitors because they use completely different cellphone technologies to service their phones, Kuittinen said. He said that T-Mobile must now explore more creative opportunities — for instance, seeking partnerships with media giants like Amazon, Facebook or Google. T-Mobile’s spectrum, not its customer base, is its most valuable asset. “T-Mobile is probably going to be profoundly damaged by this,” Kuittinen said. “They should have done some strategic rethinking instead of chasing this mirage, this dream of a merger. Now they’ve lost a lot of time.”