T-Mobile announced today that it has officially completed its merger with Sprint, eliminating the presence of a fourth major U.S. carrier and creating one giant conglomerate to compete with AT&T and Verizon. As a result, the infamous CEO of the Uncarrier for nearly the past eight years, John Legere, will be resigning and bringing in Mike Sievart to replace him.
T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint didn’t come easy. The company announced the merger back in 2018 after talks were reported between the companies in late 2017. Then, the company was faced with a plethora of legal challenges to convince regulators that merging is the for the better and not for the worst (a.k.a. it’ll open things up to more competition, not eliminate it). They even went so far as to sell Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile to Dish in hopes that the television provider is able to become next largest U.S. carrier.
That’s not all. Much wider 5G coverage, free internet access to 10 million U.S. homes, lower or identical prices for all, a dedicated internet provider for your house, and more were also in the terms of the deal to sweeten things up for regulators. Whether the New T-Mobile will stick to their promises is another conversation, but we should soon find out.
As for Legere, the foul-mouthed ultra-eccentric former leader of T-Mobile will remain on the board of the newly-conjoined company until June. Mike Sievart, meanwhile, becomes CEO of the company immediately, despite originally planning to take over at the end of April.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to lead this company for the past seven years, but now it’s time for me to hand the reins over to Mike Sievert,” said John Legere in a statement. “The Board of Directors and I agree that it makes perfect sense for Mike to assume his leadership role on day one of the new company. He’s ready! I had originally planned to stay on through the end of my contract on April 30, 2020, but it makes much more sense to transition this responsibility to Mike today. Mike was the first person I hired at T-Mobile and I have tremendous faith in his ability to take the Un-carrier into its next SUPERCHARGED chapter. Between his leadership, his expanded and talented leadership team and the amazing people at T-Mobile, the future is SO bright! The Un-carrier that we created started with our employees. Each and every one of them. They are different. They play the game differently, and I love them all. I cannot wait to see what this entire team does next!”
“All of us at T-Mobile owe John an incredible thank you for everything he’s done to get this company to where we are today,” said Mike Sievart. “He has changed what it means to be a CEO. Everything that T-Mobile has accomplished is the result of his vision for what a different kind of wireless provider could be. John IS what the Un-carrier is all about: advocating for customers at every turn, forcing us to think differently and always driving for more. He has always pushed the boundaries of what’s possible and pushed us to do the same. His leadership has made us what we are today, and we will take that into the future. Thank you, John, for everything you’ve done for wireless consumers and for our beloved employees! I also want to thank Marcelo Claure and the entire Sprint leadership team for their hard work to get us to this huge day! We did it!… and I’m looking forward to welcoming Sprint employees into Team Magenta, and to working with you now as a member of our Board of Directors.”
As far as what happens next for Sprint customers, the New T-Mobile isn’t giving us any indication as to when those customers will be migrated or if they’ll have to cancel and resubscribe. I’m sure these details will emerge over time so be sure to stay tuned.
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