Today, T-Mobile has announced that its merger with Sprint has officially completed. After years of rumors, planning, and several challenges, the two are now joined together, existing together under the single T-Mobile name. John Legere, T-Mobile's exuberant and endearingly obscene CEO, is also handing off the reigns for the new company to Mike Sievert, who was up until now COO and President of T-Mobile.

Critics of the merger have claimed that removing Sprint from the US market will reduce consumer choice, ultimately resulting in increased customer prices. Proponents claim that neither of the companies could compete with AT&T or Verizon on their own, given the limited availability of spectrum in the US.

As part of the announcement, T-Mobile has expressed a few plans and projections for its future, including:

  • Average 5G speeds on the carrier will be eight times faster than current LTE in "just a few years," and 15 times faster in six years.
  • 5G coverage for 99% of the US population.
  • 5G speeds over 100Mbps for 90% of the US population (including in-home broadband).
  • 90% of "rural Americans" to be covered with average 5G speeds of 50Mbps.
  • 14 times more network capacity in six years.

Its 5G network will also be used to bring wireless in-home broadband to unserved or under-served customers in the future.

The company also reiterated its desire to keep prices low, renewing its commitment to "the same or better rate plans for three years" — if anything, claiming to improve service for the same price. The company did recently roll out a $15 plan for unlimited calls and texting with 2GB of data, but unlike AT&T's similar plan, it doesn't offer rate-limited data after you hit that cap.

John Legere is stepping down as CEO a bit earlier than was previously planned now that the merger is complete. COO/President Mike Sivert will be taking the reigns of the combined company, though Legere will be sticking around on the company's board of directors until at least June.

Source: T-Mobile