Will Softbank Become the Next Google or Facebook?

Will Softbank become the next Google or Facebook? The speculation's a bit premature, but the fact that it's even plausible is the latest indication of the stunning ups and downs (mostly ups) in today's Internet and telecom marketplace. What we can say for sure is that consumers will be big winners in the ICT sweepstakes.

Softbank's founder Masayoshi Son has already shaken up the U.S. wireless market by buying an 80 percent share of number three carrier, Sprint. And Son's recent comments hint that he is looking to add more notches to his belt. While Softbank is only the third largest wireless provider at home in Japan, Son has set his sights on becoming the world's largest carrier. He's also made clear his aim to make the company a leader in the ancillary market for wireless entertainment because "he who conquers games conquers smartphone content."

Son backed up those words last month by acquiring Finnish e-game maker, Supercell. It's the sort of big vision that we've come to expect from Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook. But such grandiosity has only rarely been heard from non-U.S. companies.

Son - and rival T-Mobile under the leadership of its china-breaking CEO John Legere -- are already changing the shape of U.S. wireless. Son boasts that Sprint's network will catch up to its rivals in the next year or two, and surpass them soon after that. In light of the ground to be made up, neither Sprint nor T-Mobile is likely to grab the top spot in America anytime soon. But Sprint is pouring big bucks into network upgrades and T-Mobile is piling on customers.

With new buying power from knitting together Softbank, Sprint, and another recent acquisition, the handset distributor Brightstar, Son's also hoping his company now has enough leverage to negotiate better deals on handsets. Meanwhile at T-Mobile, Legere has introduced a range of pricing options that reduce the company's revenue per user, but are enabling it to pull in new subscribers at breakneck pace. After years of sub-par performance, T-Mobile's customer list grew by about one million between September 2012 and September 2013.

This twin revival in the U.S. market means the top two carriers, Verizon and AT&T, will need to up their game with new enticements of their own. The enhanced competition should brighten the faces of American consumers, who already enjoy more choices than counterparts in most other countries.

What's more, the Americans enjoying the fruits could soon include foreign travelers if Son succeeds in building Softbank into a truly global brand that delivers seamless service across borders. Someday soon, the inconvenience and roaming charges they now must bear when using wireless devices abroad may well vanish. Adding to the consumer bonanza, there's a solid chance another provider will go head-to-head with Softbank in a global race. AT&T might take the plunge with a bid for Vodaphone's European network.

Wait, it gets even better. Softbank may well push beyond gaming for a broader presence in Internet-related commerce, becoming the fifth big player in the ever-changing dance among Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. No need to count those chickens before they hatch, though: Softbank's determination to muscle into everybody else's wireless turf almost guarantees a spurt of consumer-friendly innovation and price competition.

Robert Hahn is director of economics at the Smith School, University of Oxford, and a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. Peter Passell is a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, a Santa Monica-based think tank, and editor of the Milken Institute Review