*By Alisha Haridasani* The chief executives of the third and fourth largest wireless networks are confident a merged provider would better position the United States to win the global race to provide next-generation connectivity. The networks T-Mobile and Sprint announced a $26.5 billion merger Sunday, and said the combined company would have the shared resources to help build a nationwide 5G network. “We currently, as a nation, are behind,” said the T-Mobile CEO John Legere. “The number of players that are helping contribute to the nation’s leadership in 5G is zero.” By pooling their resources, T-Mobile and Sprint could contribute more to the network and push competitors to follow suit. “You can rest assured, as we invest $40 billion into our new network, our competitors are not going to stand still,” said the Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. “This is going to raise the bar for everybody else.” Verizon and AT&T, the top two wireless providers in the country, have committed to rolling out some form of 5G connectivity in select cities this year. The new, faster broadband known as 5G is projected to be around 10 times faster than existing 4G networks, and could allow more devices to be connected to the internet at the same time without slowing performance. This upgraded connectivity could enable users to consume more online content more quickly, and the added bandwidth could foster innovation of the internet of things, autonomous vehicles, and virtual reality. Additionally, 5G could add three million jobs to the American economy, according to [a study](https://www.ctia.org/the-wireless-industry/the-race-to-5g) by CTIA, a group representing the U.S. wireless communications industry. Other countries have increased investment in upgrading their networks, with China and South Korea the closest to deploying their new technology, according to another [CTIA study.](https://api.ctia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Analysys-Mason-Global-Race-To-5G_2018.pdf) The Trump administration had said last year in its [National Security Strategy report](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf) that 5G development was important and “these improvements will increase national competitiveness.” The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint requires approval from regulators who have expressed concerns in the past that a combined wireless provider would limit competition and could hurt consumers if the mobile market were to [shrink to three large providers](https://cheddar.com/videos/t-mobile-ceo-president-trump-has-a-part-in-this-deal-2). For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/ceos-of-t-mobile-and-sprint-discuss-merger).
