T-Mobile U.S. President: Strong Growth Will Bolster Sprint Merger Bid
*By Jeffrey Marcus*
T-Mobile announced Wednesday it had its best second quarter ever, booking earnings of $0.92 per share on $10.6 billion in total revenueーincluding a record $7.9 billion from services.
The wireless provider also added 1.6 million new customers, the 21st consecutive quarter in which subscribers grew by more than 1 million, the company said. T-Mobile also increased its target for branded postpaid customers to 3.6 million by the end of the year.
T-Mobile U.S. president and COO Mike Sievert said Wednesday in an interview with Cheddar that the company's growth would strengthen its hand in a proposed merger with rival Sprint. After several failed attempts which spanned a couple years, the companies announced an agreement to merge in April and have been working to earn government approval on the promise of increased competition from fewer, stronger rivals.
"The capacity of this network will create competition," Sievert said. "When we get this network built, it is going to have seven times the capacity of today's Sprint and T-Mobile combined. That's going to create a level of competition that AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast have never seen."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/t-mobile-president-reacts-to-q2-earnings-and-merger-with-sprint).
They are playfully called the “forgotten five”: A handful of toys — the pogo stick, the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, My Little Pony, PEZ dispensers, and Transformers — that regularly approach toybox royalty as finalists for the National Toy Hall of Fame, only to be tossed back on the pile.
Rite Aid’s plan to close more stores as part of its bankruptcy process could hurt access to medicine and care, particularly in some majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods and in rural areas, experts say.
Taylor Swift's concert tour has dominated the box office in recent days and it's also the top-grossing concert film of all time here in the U.S. But a conversation on social media raised questions about movie etiquette and videos shared show film audiences singing, shining their phone flashlights and dancing in the aisles.
Stocks fell at the open Tuesday as the 10-year Treasury yield spiked following retail sales data and bank earnings, raising concerns over more rate hikes. Investors are also keeping an eye on tensions in the Middle East and its potential effect on global markets.
