While it doesn’t seem very likely, rumors abound that Google, in its efforts to make an imprint in the wireless telecommunications industry, is looking to buy Sprint, the country’s No. 3 wireless carrier. This is completely a rumor, though, and may or may not have originated in the mind of TMCnet president Rich Tehrani. He puts together a decent case on his blog, though.
Look at it this way… When Google decided it was serious about the video space it launched a new tab titled video on its home page. At a certain point the company realized YouTube was too strong a competitor and Google threw in the towel and purchased the video competitor.
So one wonders if history may indeed repeat itself and Google will start with the OHA and decide soon they need an acquisition to boost their presence in the space.
Of course, that’s flimsy on its own. There are no “insider” sources crowing this rumor, nor are there any overtures from either company.
But then Tehrani provides a list of reasons why this is, most likely, malarkey:
4) Open Handset Alliance: One would imagine if Google owns its own network, other network operators would not be too happy to be part of the OHA. This could slow progress for Google getting on the handsets of other wireless service providers.
5) A purchase of Sprint Nextel would make Verizon and AT&T go crazy and they would make life even more difficult for the search leader. Could they make life any more difficult than they do today? Maybe.
Now, as we said, we don’t buy into this. The fact that Sprint is CDMA is an immediate turn-off, since Google works on a global level. However, CDMA is, in our opinion, the superior technology, and as we evolve further and further in wireless telecommunications, our future generations will be more CDMA-based than GSM-based.
The main reason Google would benefit from owning Sprint is that they wouldn’t have to wait three or four years to build out a wireless network. They could inherit Sprint’s, and then bid on on the 700 MHz spectrum. This would create a more complete network, one that Google could begin using immediately.
We also kind of disagree, then, with Tehrani’s #4. T-Mobile and Sprint are the major carriers involved in the alliance. We’re not saying that they’re not natural competitors because one is GSM-based and the other CDMA. We’re just saying that the potential Google-Sprint scenario would be a bit easier to stomach than if Google was looking to buy a GSM provider.
[TMCnet]
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