OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Sprint and T-Mobile announced a merger on Sunday, if all goes as planned the new company will be called T-Mobile.
The plan still needs approval from shareholders and regulators, but if it goes through, the main headquarters of the combined company will be in Bellevue, Washington.
The current Sprint headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas will become a second headquarters for the company.
The two companies say the merger will help lower prices and take advantage of greater economies of scale.
"If you're wondering why this merger would even come about it is all about 5G network. Together, they are likely to build this thing out much faster than either one could do on its own so the big deal here is the network,” said Economist Chris Butler.
Butler says the merger is also expected to challenge the competition in the marketplace.
"Together they are a better number 3 to AT&T and Verizon. In fact, I would say together they are a legitimate competitor against those two big boys,” said Butler.
While mergers are often associated with layoffs, Kansas Governor Jeff Coyler who has visited with Sprint Leadership over the past few months, says he anticipates eventual job growth.
"Yes there will be some changeover but they're anticipating this to be the second headquarter for them and to continue to do so. That gives us an opportunity for additional jobs in the future,” said the Governor.
After the merger, the company will be called T-Mobile.
The message right now is that this is positive for the state of Kansas as well as both companies, but some on the Kansas City area may feel nostalgic about the loss of the name Sprint.
"It was something locally that we could be proud of because of it's international and national footprint. Now that's gone and with it goes a little bit of pride in Kansas City,” said Butler.
