T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger: A win for consumers?

By Dave Siff

updated 6:13 AM EDT, Thu October 04, 2012

NEED TO KNOW

New company will be nation's No. 4 wireless carrier
The deal could benefit consumers, but it'll be a while
HLN Money Expert Clark Howard likes the deal

T-Mobile and Metro PCS, two of the nation's discount cellphone carriers, are joining forces.

Two of the nation's biggest discount cellphone carriers are joining forces.

T-Mobile and MetroPCS announced the merger Wednesday. The combined company will be called T-Mobile and will have more than 42 million subscribers.

Neither company on its own could challenge the market's dominant players -- AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. But together, T-Mobile and MetroPCS believe they'll have the resources to be a lower-cost contender.

Customers won't notice a difference for a while. The two companies' networks aren't compatible, so a new one will be put in place. MetroPCS will migrate its customers to the new network, a process company executives said won't be done until the end of 2015.

So, is less competition a good deal for consumers? HLN Money Expert Clark Howard thinks it could be. Read his take here.

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