You must be confusing me with someone else - I've never said Sprint would be dead in any given time.

What I have said is that Sprint is so good at shooting itself in the foot and failing miserably at executing its "initiatives", that it will always be an also-ran, and possibly eventually absorbed by Verizon.

Personally, I would hate to lose Sprint, but that's not because I like Sprint. I actually dislike Sprint, because it is a company of bumbling idiots, continuously performing poorly and blowing every positive potential that comes their way. The only reason I would hate to lose Sprint is that I dislike ATT & VZ even more than I dislike Sprint ;-)

The one and only thing Sprint has going for it any more is their plan pricing, which when you think about it is a rather tenuous advantage for a second-string outfit like Sprint. Either Verizon or ATT could wipe out Sprint's pricing advantage any time they choose to, effectively throttling Sprint to death.

I'm speculating that if indeed DOJ, FCC and the state attorneys general do allow ATT to buy T-Mo, eventually Verizon will want to buy Sprint, to keep things more or less even in terms of subscriber numbers.

Sprint's stock price is low enough that VZ could pick up Sprint at a bargain price, once VZ has finished the bulk of their LTE buildout and their capital outlay slows down a bit.

I like the fact that Sprint is hanging in there, keeping the US wireless market more competitive, but it sure looks like Sprint is in a box canyon with no way out. What possible, REALISTIC scenario can you describe in which Sprint stands a chance of regaining market share and increasing in both subscribers & profitability to the point that the stock price rebounds and Sprint becomes a strong, viable company again?