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It looks like Amazon is looking to buy Boost Mobile, which would give them direct wireless connections with customers to let them instantly buy more products and stream Prime Video and Amazon Music continuously across the United States.
The e-commerce giant is planning to buy out Boost Mobile, Sprint's prepaid mobile phone operator, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. This could make Amazon a player in the US wireless market, after AT & T, Verizon and T-Mobile / Sprint, which are trying to get the regulatory merger merged.
The representatives of Sprint and T-Mobile declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Amazon said the company did not comment on "rumors or speculation".
Earlier this month, T-Mobile and Sprint committed to selling Boost Mobile, which was among the additional concessions to dispel regulators' concerns about the anti-competitive effect of the merger, a value of $ 26 billion. The new plan was approved by FCC President Ajit Pai and other commissioners, but the Justice Department hesitated. The Justice Department insists that T-Mobile and Sprint "set the stage" to create a powerful fourth carrier that would be over the new entity's network, Bloomberg said this week – and it is possible that An agreement with Amazon fills the bill.
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Amazon's prospect of becoming a new competitor in the wireless sector led to falling stock prices of AT & T (-2.7%) and Verizon (-3.5%) in trading precommercial Friday.
According to T-Mobile and Sprint, the companies "pledged that after closing, New T-Mobile will sell Boost via a market-based process to a serious and credible buyer". The buyer of Boost will be offered a period of six years. wholesale agreement MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) which will include wholesale rates "which will significantly improve the commercial conditions reflected in the most favorable of the three most important MVNO agreements of T-Mobile and Sprint", according to a filing of T-Mobile with the SEC.
According to the Reuters report, Amazon is primarily interested in a contract for Boost Mobile because of the six-year MVNO rights.
Amazon previously wanted to get into the wireless game: in 2014, it launched its first smartphone, the Fire Phone, which included buying features and was available exclusively via AT & T. collapsed with consumers who were not persuaded to switch from their iPhone to other models based on Android.
In addition to offering a smartphone service with Boost Mobile – possibly with a restarted version of the Fire Phone phone – Amazon could potentially integrate wireless connectivity directly into its mainstream consumer product line, such as its line-up Fire TV and its Echo smart speakers.
A contract for Boost could be $ 4.5 billion if it includes wireless spectrum, says Wall Street Cowen & Co.
According to the Reuters report, Amazon would also be interested in acquiring wireless spectrum as part of a contract with Boost Mobile that it could sell. Sprint does not divide the size of the Boost Mobile activity. According to Cowen estimates, Boost has between 7 million and 8 million customers.
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