Amazon reportedly has an interest in buying Boost Mobile, the prepaid brand Sprint may be required to sell as a condition of its merger with T-Mobile. Both carriers also may want to sell some of their spectrum holdings, which has attracted interest from Amazon, Charter Communications, and Comcast, reports Reuters.
Amazon is interested in Boost because the purchase would enable it to use the new T-Mobile wireless network for at least six years. T-Mobile and Sprint have already promised to divest Boost in an effort to reduce their market share in the prepaid wireless business and gain regulatory approval for their transaction, Inside Towers reported.
The Department of Justice would need to review the buyer of a divested asset to ensure it would stay viable and preserve competition. DOJ officials met with Comcast and Charter last week over their potential interest in Boost, according to Reuters.
Both cable operators offer wireless service. So too, does Amazon through its Echo Connect, which uses a person’s home phone service and allows an Alexa-enabled, voice-activated speaker to make phone calls.
Analysts at Cowen recently estimated Boost has seven to eight million customers and a sale could be valued at $4.5 billion, if the transaction also included wireless spectrum and facilities.
June 3, 2019
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