Masayoshi Son (pictured), chairman of Sprint, the third-largest mobile operator in the US, picked a TV interview to finally confirm his interest in a takeover of smaller rival T-Mobile US.

In excerpts from the interview with Charlie Rose, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Son stressed no formal agreement had been struck with T-Mobile US and “steps and details” needed to be worked out.

He added, however, that a merger would help Sprint gain the scale needed to better compete with US heavyweights – Verizon Wireless and AT&T – and to have a “real fight”.

Bloomberg quoted Son as willing to start a “massive price war”.

SoftBank’s chairman admitted he didn’t know his chances of making the deal happen, but said “we have to give [it] a shot”.

T-Mobile US seems just as keen on consolidation as SoftBank.

“It is not a question of if, it is a question of when,” said Braxton Carter, T-Mobile US CFO – quoted by Reuters – when talking about the company’s prospects for consolidation

“To take a third-scale national player that has the scale benefits with the right business model could be very competitively enhancing in the US,” he added.

Son – CEO of Japan’s SoftBank, which owns nearly 80 per cent of Sprint – is expected to use his presentation today (11 March) at the Chamber of Commerce to extol the merits of having fewer market player in the US.

US anti-trust officials, however, have expressed doubt that a tie-up between Sprint and T-Mobile US would be given the green light.

Son, for his part, has accused the big two – AT&T and Verizon Wireless – of running an effective duopoly in which prices are kept artificially high and innovation is thwarted.