Expected to close before the end of 2019, the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint does not look like good news to many people already. According to The Communications Workers of America labor union, this deal should not proceed as planned because that would result in slashing no less than 28,000 jobs across the US.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/No-less-than-28-000-jobs-would-be-lost-if-Sprint-and-T-Mobile-merge.325760.0.html
"duplicative functions"
I think eliminating that is mostly in the interest of the public, in fact the infrastructure running itself would be even more in the interest of the public.
Duplicative functions would not be duplicative if the merger would not occur...