The Sprint T-Mobile merger has just been delayed

Sprint (S) and T Mobile (TMUS) must continue to wait.

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday issued a letter stating that it needed more time to consider the proposed merger between the two telecommunication companies.

T-Mobile's CEO, John Legere, and Sprint's CEO, Marcelo Claure, have vowed to offer lower prices if they were allowed to merge. They argue that the combination of forces would also help to increase competition in the telecommunications market and that they need each other to deploy 5G service.

If both are allowed to merge, the number of wireless providers in the United States would fall from four to three with the new company competing against Verizon (VZ) and the parent company CNN AT & T (T).

The FCC indicated in its letter that it was "stopping the 180-day transaction clock" to review the new documents submitted.

Sprint and T-Mobile first discussed a merger in 2014, but dropped it due to concerns over the Obama administration's regulations.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 11, 2018 at 16:51