T-Mobile and Sprint, the nation's third and fourth largest wireless providers, respectively, could finally solidify merger talks as early as next week according to sources familiar with the matter as reported by Reuters.

The on-again, off-again relationship between T-Mobile and Sprint has persisted for years. Not to sound like a broken record but we've been fed the line about how a deal is close to being finalized time and again, only for it to fall apart at the 11th hour. Quite frankly, I'd be more surprised if an agreement is reached than I would if it flounders for the umpteenth time.

Then again, the time may finally be right for a merger. We're right on the brink of 5G, a new technology that'll fully usher in the mobile revolution. T-Mobile has made serious waves in the mobile space ever since John Legere took over as CEO yet still, it's only been enough to propel the company from fourth place to third in terms of customer count. By merging with Sprint, the combined company would have more than 127 million customers and be in a better position to compete with industry leaders Verizon and AT&T who hold the number one and number two spots, respectively.

Of course, this is all contingent upon Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank, majority owners of T-Mobile and Sprint, successfully coming to terms at the negotiating table. And before we can even get to the juicy details of how the combined company would be run and who would be in charge, the deal would have to clear significant regulatory hurdles.