Google to Acquire Sprint Nextel?

Rich Tehrani reported on Saturday that he's hearing rumors that Google may acquire Sprint Nextel. Techcrunch picked up Rich's story and provided their own analysis. Matthew Ingram also has an interesting take on Rich's rumor with an interesting line - "Google has effectively become the saviour of everything."
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\nWhy would an acquisition of a phone service provider (carrier) make sense? Well, for one, carriers sign exclusive deals with phone manufacturers, i.e. AT&T has/had an exclusive deal with the Apple iPhone. Google could leverage the acquisition to push their own future Google phone. Yeah, yeah, I know Google says they aren't launching any Google phone but rather some Open Handset Alliance. That could just be the first step to get their foot in the door within the mobile space and then eventually launch a true hardware phone and sold by Sprint Nextel.
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\nRich put it best when he writes, "So one wonders if the mobile search market is so crucial to the company’s future, can it rely solely on the Open Handset Alliance to get into the mobile search market?"
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\nI agree. I don't think Google can soley rely on OHA to be successful in the mobile space. A Sprint Nextel acquisition makes perfect sense to me. Google has cash to burn. It certainly would be an entirely different market space for Google. All their previous acquisitions I believe have been Internet companies. Only time will tell if this is just another rumor or if Google will truly start to diversify into mobile wireless - a totally different market arena that is very competitive. Acquiring Sprint Nextel gives Google an immediate market presence.