T-Mobile (TMUS 1.50%) is moving ahead with integrating its merger of Sprint, planning to phase out the brand on the consumer side this summer.
During JPMorgan’s 48th annual global technology, media, and communications conference this week, which was broadcast over the Internet, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said the wireless carrier will begin phasing out the Sprint name this summer although it’s getting pushed out a bit because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As it stands the two brands are still presented as separate entities to consumers but behind the scenes are being run as one unified business.
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“We had always been planning a summertime frame,” said the CEO, noting by the middle of the summer T-Mobile will be advertising one flagship postpaid brand and will have a unified retail strategy. Initially, it has expected that to happen in the early part of the summer but the retail piece caused it to slow down a bit, said Sievert. The executive noted T-Mobile hasn’t talked about a specific date yet. Either way, customers can soon expect to see Sprint’s name disappear from bills and on storefronts, although Sprint customers will be able to keep their existing plans.
On the corporate side, Sievert said “day one has largely already arrived,” with the team pursuing a unified strategy under the T-Mobile brand when engaging with enterprise customers and large and small public sector customers. That started last week, noted the executive.
In early April, after close to two years of wrangling, T-Mobile closed on its $26 billion acquisition of Sprint. Combined the two companies will be in a stronger position on the 5G front and will be better able to pursue corporate customers.
