SoftBank Without Telcos Begs a Question

By Tim Culpan

Finally.

Get used to hearing that word a lot when people talk about the merger of Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc.

For SoftBank Group Corp. and its founder Masayoshi Son, that sigh of relief also needs a rejoinder: now what?

In addition to dumping successfully selling his unprofitable U.S. telco, Son this year is on track to list the company’s far more lucrative Japanese domestic mobile operator.

SoftBank Corp., as the local telco is known, accounted for 35 percent of the group’s revenue last fiscal year but 67 percent of operating income. Sprint contributed 39 percent of sales, and 17 percent of operating profit.

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