After Google and Facebook, another US giant on the Net hankers after the telecom market in the United States. According to Reuters, Amazon is considering buying out Boost Mobile, a prepaid mobile operator owned by Sprint. The latter has indeed committed to sell this subsidiary in the context of $ 26 billion merger with its rival T-Mobile, which still has to be approved by US authorities. Today, according to analysts, Boost has between 7 and 8 million customers, and is valued around $ 4.5 billion.
With the acquisition of this operator, Amazon could access the valuable network of a possible new T-Mobile-Sprint entity within at least six years. In addition, Jeff Bezos' group would also be interested in a range of frequencies that could be allocated. For Sprint, this sale appears as a necessary evil to get the green light from US authorities for its merger with T-Mobile. In fact, both mobile operators are committed to reducing their market share in prepaid mobile services, so that competition in this segment is preserved.
As a reminder, Sprint and T-Mobile have tried several times in recent years to merge in order to foster a new giant capable of competing with their rivals AT&T and Verizon. But they have never, until then, managed to win the approval of the authorities. But this time, they seem on their way to getting there.
Large deployment of 5G
Sprint and T-Mobile have committed to a very large and fast deployment of 5G, the next generation of mobile communication, in Uncle Sam's country. But this technology appears particularly strategic in the eyes of Washington, which sees it as one of the main economic catalysts of the country in the coming years.
In addition to FCC approval, Sprint and T-Mobile will also need approval from the US Department of Justice. Still, according to Bloomberg, the Department of Justice would not support a reduction in the number of mobile operators in the United States. Under this prism, an arrival of Amazon would keep a game with four players in the market.
