The nation’s third and fourth largest carriers are considering either a merger or buy-out. Number four T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, is considering taking over Sprint. Rumors have it that T-Mobile has already Deutsche Bank for advice and to possibly submit a bid for Sprint’s Now Network.

The proposed “merger” of the two carriers poses an interesting dilemmas as Sprint’s network is operating on CDMA towers, with WiMax as the the 4G network. T-Mobile currently is on GSM and is starting to build out its 3G network as it was late to the game. Between the two, a plethora of different bands would be needed for interoperability on the same network.

That said, the two players have been quite progressive with the devices that they offer and support as well as rate plans. In terms of the Touch Pro2, T-Mobile was first out of the gate with its version, followed by Sprint. Verizon, the nation’s largest carrier, is third to the launch party, with no news from AT&T for its Tilt2.

Both carriers offer different flagship devices for their networks. T-Mobile has the Android-based MyTouch 3G, essentially a HTC G1 successor, and Sprint offers the webOS based Palm Pre. In terms of Windows Mobile devices, both carriers have their iterations of the HTC Snap and Sprint still carries the Treo Pro in CDMA form.

Personally, I hope the merger rumors are not true–both underdogs in the wireless industry have a lot to offer consumers.

(via: Engadget Mobile)