What you get it is an ugly mess of mixed technologies resulting in one, not two, crappy cell phone company.

Yeah Sprint and Nextel have been doing such a stunning job of integration...

Unless this means that the carrier will support both GSM and CDMA phones AND keep the REV A in rural areas such as where I work, I don't see this as a good idea.

I've always wanted to see a SMART car get into an accident. You now have fulfilled that dream.

@P3nnst8r:
There used to be a bunch of good crash test videos on YouTube. You might want to take a look.
Those little suckers are just roll cages on wheels, so they come out of it surprisingly well.

Just let me keep my SERO plan and I'll be happy.

The Inquirer?
Really?

Can we stop using them as reliable news?

@ShockTerminal: Why? They're accurate more often than Giz and Engadget are.

Hmm, interesting. Very interesting. If this happens then I'm jumping ship from T-mo, and going to AT&T >_< .

@DomZ: Agreed, completely.

If buying sprint/nextel somehow screws up my t-mobile service i'll be pissed. I get the best signal of any carrier at my house.

It's called "Deutsche Telekom" not "Deutsch Telekom".

Hey! I like my iDEN!

@torax242: Thanks for the catch—just updated. And here I was just proud that I got the "tsch" right. At least I can still spell "Nietzsche." (Right?)

What is with these companies jumpping at every "Anchor Sale! 150% Markup!"

The number one problem with Sprint is not their technology (despite the fact it should be). The main problem is their customer service. So, the question is:

What happens when you mix the best customer service with the worst? Do you get mediocrity, excellence, or a crapification of all things human related?

T-Mobile needs to do this so we can find out the answer.

Telecom Douches...

Combining T-Mobile's and Sprint/Nextel's customers would create the #1 wireless carrier in the US.
T-mobile is buying the Sprint's customer base not it's technology.

CDMA/IDEN/Wimax would all be dropped in favor of GSM/LTE.

The Winner of such a deal with be the Bankers involved with such a transaction.
When Nextel was acquired by Sprint, Sprints engineering team had stated that it would be a waste of time and money trying to integrate the two systems together. Billing systems for iden networks versus the CDMA system.
The strategy that Sprint should pursue is to drop iDEN, get out of the market of the traditional wireless carrier model in place in the U.S. i.e. buy phone and sign up for service. Instead Sprint will be best served if they get out of the phone and service model and just focus on Services on top of their WiMAX network.
Become a pure play network provider and let anyone who brings any device that works on their network to come aboard, build applications and share revenues with Sprint. That way they can offer a complete network coverage from home to mobile to work with a single device plugging in at home then into ones car and then plugging in at work while the content and applications are held in the network cloud and Sprint provides the backbone for all these services to be delivered. They can get away from different plans for voice and data and just offer flat rate plans ( they are doing that now) and make money in partnership with the vendors supplying the content/applications.
Leave the Bankers out and deploy a good service on a WiMAx network.

@Dj75728: agreed

I can't do sprint. in any form.

@Jacob Varghese: and you know this how?

Crappy service from TMo and crappy service from sprint. what a joyous reunion.... the way this crap is going to work. is if TMo buys sprint piss off Intel and say we are not doing wimax and going LTE... if tmo wants anything its sprints customers. because they are gunning for AT&T and Verizon, with the next generation of wireless networks coming out(which they are probably slow behind just like their 3g) i am sure that they would not want to be blown to pieces by the Death Star (AT&T), and That oh so noble one Verizon.

I hope they do. Sprint deserves to be removed from our planet.

Sprint has been great to me so I see no reason to give them crap. They are completely willing to drop prices and keep current customers on board. Unlike Verizon which is definitely the biggest pos provider. Their content lineup has definitely improved since they have finished the merger and their hardware lineup has all the phones that I would want (iPhone is overrated)

This could be an interesting test for software defined radio towers.

This is just what the mobile industry needs. Another merger-fueled clusterfuck.

Screw Sprint. I live near the campus and I still wouldn't use them again if they were the only provider on Earth. T-Mobile's a great company. Their offerings are more basic but they have better prices and the best customer service in the industry hands down. I've done Sprint and AT&T and won't ever go back. If they do this, Sprint is either gonna become one of the best in the business or T-Mo one of the worst. Maybe I'll go to Verizon and wait to see how it turns out.

@Monty: Monty is right. Sprint's CS is the worst. It normally takes 3 calls before they get something right.

I really want to stay with Sprint and have a very stable 755p (not to mention some discounts and perks on my plan), so I would hate to see more changes that fuck things up even worse.

What we really need is someone that can manage Sprint that can see the real problem.

Sprint pricing is totally awesome - you have to know how to get it (hint - google: SERO) but where else can u get 500 anytime mins, MobiletoMobile, 7pm Nights/weekends, UNLIMITED DATA & TEXT for - $30/month ?!?!?

I loves me some Sprint