Fusion Sprint and T-Mobile may continue after promise not to use Huawei anymore

The two US telecom providers Sprint and T-Mobile would have promised not to use Huawei equipment after they have merged. That promise should help to approve the proposed merger.

Press Agency Reuters reports on the basis of sources involved in the negotiations with the US government, that such a promise helps in getting approval for the deal. Although Sprint and T-Mobile do not use Huawei equipment themselves, their parent companies, SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom, do so in other countries. According to the sources, they would look for an alternative supplier.

After the promise, both companies expect the American Committee on Foreign Investment to approve the merger in the United States. That could happen early next week, although the sources of Reuters also reported that the negotiations are still going on, and may therefore still be negative.

At the end of April, both companies announced the merger, and this is a share exchange with a value of 26 billion dollars. Deutsche Telekom holds 41.7 percent of the joint venture, while Softbank holds 27.4 percent. In addition, 30.9 percent of the shares of ‘New T-Mobile’ are publicly tradable.

In the United States, there is concern about Chinese state espionage via Huawei equipment. Recently, Huawei’s CFO was arrested in Canada, where it was officially denounced that it was suspected of being involved in the evasion of sanctions against Iran. The New York Times, however, states that the base is a suspicion of espionage in the United States.