Sprint, T-Mobile Hinges on 5G, Effective Divestitures, Analysts Say

Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile Inc. could convince regulators that their $26.5 billion tie-up is pro-competitive if they divest a few key assets like spectrum and their pre-paid wireless business, analysts told Bloomberg Law.

Skepticism about merger approval has slowly subsided in recent months amid speculation that the promise of new 5G network could outweigh regulators’ concerns about removing one of the four major wireless companies from the U.S. marketplace. The discussion with regulators about divestitures that could fix the two carriers’ overlapping markets signals the government is looking for a solution to potential market concentration.

T-Mobile and Sprint now occupy ...