Filed by Sprint Corporation
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, and deemed filed pursuant to Rule
14a-12
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
Subject Company: Sprint Corporation
Commission File No.:
001-04721
The following communication was made available by Marcelo Claure, Executive Chairman of Sprint, on Twitter:
Tweet:
This is why the @Sprint & @TMobile merger is so important, @Mikeddano. A combined company is the only way the U.S. can maintain
leadership and win the global race to #5G. [Investor info: https://sprint.co/2OpJnLU ] http://bit.ly/2OiGlZK
https://www.fiercewireless.com/5g/editor-s-corner-china-will-almost-certainly-win-race-to-5g-here-s-why
Editors CornerChina will almost certainly win the race to 5G. Heres
why
By Mike Dano
August 7, 2018
Another new report released today comes to the same conclusion that a number of other analyst firms have previously stated: China is going to beat the United
States in the race to 5G.
Chinas five-year economic plan specifies $400 billion in
5G-related
investment. Consequently, China and other countries may be creating a 5G tsunami, making it near impossible to catch up, according to Deloittes new 5G: The chance to lead for a decade report.
That statement comes days after the GSMA Intelligence research firm stated that China is expected to become the worlds largest 5G market by 2025,
accounting for 430 million 5G connections or
one-third
of the global total.
And Mobile Experts pointed
last week to an imminent China surge. The firms principal analyst, Joe Madden, said that for most of the world, 5G deployment will be spread over many years and will solidify slowly over time. China is the exception.
This is
all-important
because, for better or worse, the Trump administration has positioned 5G as an issue of
national security. The United States role in 5G was a primary reason Trump moved to block Broadcoms hostile takeover of Qualcomm: A shift to Chinese dominance in 5G would have substantial negative national security consequences for
the United States, wrote the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., headed by Trump appointee Steven Mnuchin, in a detailed letter on the proposed transaction.
But what exactly is China doing in 5G? At least right now, things in the East are relatively quiet.
Specifically, China has not issued 5G spectrum licenses. The countrys three main, government-controlled operatorsChina Mobile, China Unicom and
China Telecomhavent yet announced their infrastructure vendors. And the countrys wireless executives havent yet engaged in the kind of 5G
one-upmanship
that U.S. wireless executives are
already deep into. (Neville Ray, Im looking at you.)
But thats likely to change, and soon.
Chinas 5G launches
The Shanghai MWC last
week shows that China is firmly moving ahead with its plan to commercially launch 5G in 2020, wrote Wall Street analyst firm Jefferies in a note to investors issued last month following the close of the Mobile World Congress trade show in
Shanghai. Both CT and Unicom indicated their plans would be to build a 5G Standalone network. CM took a leadership role by launching