Why T-Mobile is Sprint's best hope

As much as the notion of a T-Mobile USA merger with Sprint has been bandied about and criticized, the ways the two competitors might work together has taken a new tack of late as T-Mobile USA looks for a 4G partner and Clearwire, majority owned by Sprint, looks for expansion capital.

While T-Mobile has not officially announced its own 4G plans, Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann stated earlier this year the company was exploring options and will be open to cooperation when it comes to 4G, which could include working with other network operators such as Sprint.

Sprint seems conflicted about allowing T-Mobile USA to become an investor in Clearwire. But such a move would have obvious benefits and some strategic issues as well.

Over time, both firms will probably need to consider bulking up in some way to compete more effectively with Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Getting both carriers on a common LTE platform would solve some important practical issues longer term.

In the nearer term, a T-Mobile USA investment in Clearwire would help both firms in obvious ways.

Why T-Mobile is Sprint's best hope