Mergers and Acquisitions: When Will it End?

One thing I have learned in studying Telecommunications is that the industry continues to grow without letting in smaller firms. When people think about cell phone carriers typically the names Verizon, AT&T, or even Sprint come to mind. What most people don't realize is that these companies operate on a much larger scale than just providing cell phone service for their customers.

Most notably, AT&T recently became the majority owner of Time-Warner Cable which was an absolutely massive merger that will bring huge revenues to AT&T. Historically speaking, AT&T may not be a television broadcasting company, but they are now. The article "Why 2017 Will Be A Huge Year For Telecom And Media Mergers" on fastcompany.com provides insight into how these larger mergers and acquisitions may not be over.

The author Mark Sullivan mentions how a combination of political transition, economic forces, and good timing could cause a flurry of new mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications and media industries this year. The main reason for the possible mergers and acquisitions is that Telecomm companies need to broaden their product offerings. For instance, traditional media companies such as Time Warner need to reach a younger audience that prefers to stream their content. That was the major force behind their AT&T merger; they wanted to use the smart phone market to grow their audience. Overall, mergers and acquisitions have been occurring in telecommunications for years and it doesn't look like that is going to change any time soon.