T-Mobile has a multi-merger history. In 1994, from the merger of General Cellular and Pacific Northwest Cellular, Western Wireless grew into a PCS provider for several western and southwestern states as well as Hawaii. After a successful public offering by Western Wireless, VoiceStream Wireless was launched. VoiceStream Wireless grew its capabilities and personality-building coverage, advanced customer care centers, and, with the signing of actress Jamie Lee Curtis, a nationwide message: Get More.

After spinning off from its parent company, VoiceStream Wireless grew to more than 7 million customers, launching innovations like wireless Internet service, and ultimately merging with Deutsche Telekom AG.

In 2002, VoiceStream Wireless officially became T-Mobile USA, launching service in California and Nevada. T-Mobile signed actress and wife of Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones as the global spokeswoman.

In 2006, they introduced the myFaves experience. While the brand maintained its signature magenta hue, T-Mobile had a new tagline, “stick together,” created to underscore the importance of maintaining and enhancing personal relationships.

On March of 2011, Deutsche Telekom accepted a $39 billion stock and cash purchase offer for the company from AT&T Inc. The merger would have created the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., with nearly 130 million customers. The deal faced significant regulatory and legal hurdles. On December 19, 2011, amid heavy resistance from the U.S. government, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced that the company had officially withdrawn their bid and agreed to pay T-Mobile a $4 billion breakup fee.

According to their web site, they have 42,000 employees with nearly 130 million customers. Worldwide Deutsche Telekom has revenues of $62.42 billion with net income of $1.70 billion. They have 246,777 employees.

SPRINT was born out of mergers with United Telecommunications, US Sprint and Centel. Each embraced the same bold approach that Sprint's founder Cleyson Brown showed in 1899, when the Brown Telephone Company successfully went toe-to-toe with the Bell monopoly in Abilene, Kansas. By the mid-1970s, the company's aggressive growth strategies had firmly established it as the nation's largest independent local telephone provider, which is still true today.

When long distance opened to competition in the 1980s, Sprint seized the opportunity. By 1986, Sprint led all U.S. telecom companies by completing the first nationwide, 100% digital, fiber-optic network. At the same time, the company was a pioneer in data communications, establishing the world's third largest commercial packet data network in 1980.

Sprint charged into the 1990s with pacesetting moves for both consumers and businesses, when in 1993, when Sprint and Centel merged to become a unique provider of local, wireless and long distance services. Sprint took its wireless strategy a big step further in the late '90s by building the only nationwide PCS network in the U.S.

In 2004, Sprint merged with Nextel which always had gold and black as their colors, and Sprint adopted their colors and added the bird-like feather emblem. The merger has made the Nextel name vanish except on franchises that sell cell phones under the Nextel brand. Those offices are known as Nextel Partners.

According to their latest annual report, Sprint created revenues of $32.56 billion with net losses of $-3.47 billion. But according to reports, they have $5 billion dollars in cash and credit from 2011. They have 40,000 employees.

On Cable, both phone companies are running neck and neck with T-Mobile running 189,941 spots, while Sprint cleared 184,092 ads. T-Mobile ran hottest in January with 22,653 spots and Sprint ran the most spots in August with 29,227 spots.

On the Radio, T-Mobile is way out in front with 175,453 spots, while Sprint ran only 26,051 radio commercials in the last 12 months. The biggest month for T-Mobile was December with 29,005 ads and Sprint’s biggest month was April with 4,999 spots.

On TV the battle is very tight with T-Mobile running 164,276 spots against Sprint’s 171,089 ads. Sprint’s biggest month in the last 12 was July with 20,269 spots, while T-Mobile ran hottest in May with 20,282 spots.

Posted: January 30, 2012