What was voicestream before

November Sprint and T-Mobile announce that they are ending discussions about a merger because regulators were unlikely to sign off. April 29, T-Mobile announces an all-stock agreement to merge with Sprint. Please Sign In and use this article's on page print button to print this article. Jun 27, Related Content. Is T-Mobile's parent company holding up the Sprint merger? There might also be foreign-ownership limits attached to some of the wireless licenses held by VoiceStream.

Last week, industry analysts hailed a potential VoiceStream deal as being less likely to touch off political opposition than a merger between Deutsche Telekom and a more established firm such as Sprint Corp. Analysts expect the VoiceStream acquisition to be just the first of several U. The company has held recent merger talks with Qwest officials but is said to have backed off a potential deal with Sprint because of concerns about regulatory resistance.

VoiceStream already owns wireless licenses covering about three-quarters of the U. However, much of that network is not yet built, and it will take years and millions of dollars to complete. The company has about 2 million mobile customers, placing it well behind U. VoiceStream, however, is growing fast. It was spun off from Western Wireless Corp. It completed two acquisitions of its own earlier this year: Aerial Communications Inc.

In addition, it has struck partnership deals with several other companies that will allow it to sell VoiceStream service in their markets. Still, VoiceStream could move to buy those licenses outright as well as buy new licenses that would allow it to fill service gaps in San Diego and other California regions as well as in Nevada and the southeastern U.

Despite the heavy losses, the company is attractive to Deutsche Telekom because it is one of the last independent nationwide wireless carriers in the United States. Still, last week shares of Deutsche Telekom fell on fears that it would overpay for VoiceStream, traders said. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing.