The head of US number three wireless carrier Sprint on Tuesday touted consolidation for the US mobile industry, but declined to comment on a potential tie-up with T-Mobile USA.
Sprint chief executive Dan Hesse said he had argued for some time that industry consolidation -- excluding leaders AT&T and Verizon -- "would be better for the country and better for consumers."
"And I still believe that's very much the case," he told analysts on a conference call.
Hesse declined to comment on specific potential transactions, including reports that Sprint is considering a bid for number four T-Mobile.
Sprint has received preliminary financing offers worth some $30 billion for a T-Mobile purchase. But US regulators have discouraged the deal, press reports said.
US antitrust authorities in 2011 blocked number two carrier AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom.
But US regulators have green-lighted some smaller transactions, including Japanese technology investor SoftBank's purchase last year of Sprint, and the merger of T-Mobile with smaller rival MetroPCS.
Verizon also saw no resistance to its purchase of Vodafone's stake in its Verizon Wireless joint venture.
A merger between Sprint and T-Mobile would allow it to close the competitive gap in terms of subscriber base. AT&T and Verizon each have more than 100 million subscribers.
Sprint said Tuesday it finished 2013 with 53.9 million subscribers, while T-Mobile reported 45 million subscribers at the end of September.
The head of US number three wireless carrier Sprint on Tuesday touted consolidation for the US mobile industry, but declined to comment on a potential tie-up with T-Mobile USA.
Sprint chief executive Dan Hesse said he had argued for some time that industry consolidation — excluding leaders AT&T and Verizon — “would be better for the country and better for consumers.”
“And I still believe that’s very much the case,” he told analysts on a conference call.
Hesse declined to comment on specific potential transactions, including reports that Sprint is considering a bid for number four T-Mobile.
Sprint has received preliminary financing offers worth some $30 billion for a T-Mobile purchase. But US regulators have discouraged the deal, press reports said.
US antitrust authorities in 2011 blocked number two carrier AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom.
But US regulators have green-lighted some smaller transactions, including Japanese technology investor SoftBank’s purchase last year of Sprint, and the merger of T-Mobile with smaller rival MetroPCS.
Verizon also saw no resistance to its purchase of Vodafone’s stake in its Verizon Wireless joint venture.
A merger between Sprint and T-Mobile would allow it to close the competitive gap in terms of subscriber base. AT&T and Verizon each have more than 100 million subscribers.
Sprint said Tuesday it finished 2013 with 53.9 million subscribers, while T-Mobile reported 45 million subscribers at the end of September.
