Sprint halting its moves on T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger, for now that is

It was earlier rumored that Sprint would be making a bid on MetroPCS even though T-Mobile and MetroPCS had agreed on a merger, with an offer of $1.5 billion from Deutsche Telekom, but according to “people familiar with the situation,” Sprint has decided to hold off for now and wait for Deutsche Telekom’s filing with federal regulators before making a decision.

The filing, which should take a month or two to materialize, will show Sprint how Deutsche Telekom is structuring the deal, allowing Sprint to then make further decisions based on it. Sprint is certainly interested in MetroPCS as this is the second time they’ve bid on the company, so even though they have decided to wait for now, the battle between Sprint and T-Mobile over who gets the upper hand is far from over.

Deutsche Telekom has also said that they would make a counter bid if Sprint enters the game, so all we can do is wait and see how it all plays out. MetroPCS will be the clear winner though, no matter who wins the bid.