To approve the merger of the two telecommunications giants Sprint and T-Mobile, the FCC (the U.S. government agency that regulates the telecommunications sector) required the approval for the sale of the Boost Mobile brand (a low-cost prepaid mobile carrier owned by Sprint). And the company that has emerged with a strong interest in buying the carrier is Amazon.
According to Reuters, Amazon is reportedly willing to pay the US$3 billion needed to acquire Boost Mobile, which would also place the retail giant in the mobile phone market.
Since Boost is an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), it does not have its own network infrastructure and only operates as a reseller of Sprint's network. Thus, even if Amazon buys the company, it will still depend on the outcome of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger to continue operating. The advantage is that it would enter the market with a solid user base (there are currently between 7 and 8 million Boost users in the U.S.) and a license to operate and resell for six years on the network of the company that will emerge from the merger, without the need to negotiate any type of service supply contract during this period. However, according to Reuters, Amazon is interested not only in buying Boost and continuing to operate as a virtual carrier but also in purchasing any cell towers that Sprint or T-Mobile may be interested in selling and starting to develop its own telecommunications infrastructure.
This is not the first time Amazon has shown interest in entering the mobile phone market. The company already has its own Android-based operating system (Fire OS) and, several years ago, attempted to launch its own smartphone (the Amazon Fire Phone), though without much success. Recently, it has been selling smartphones that come with Amazon apps pre-installed from the factory.
It is easy to understand why Amazon is interested in this market, after all, it is one of the largest in the world and one of the few in which Amazon does not participate. Therefore, it would not be difficult to imagine the company investing a substantial amount of money to acquire more than just a carrier, but also an established user base to begin offering its services.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/05/amazon-cell-service-company-reportedly-interested-in-buying-boost-mobile/
