(James Hood Consumer Affairs) Barely a week after T-Mobile and MetroPCS announced plans to merge, it's reported that Japanese mobile carrier Softbank is in advanced talks to buy Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless company.

The Wall Street Journal quotes people close to the negotiations as saying the deal would be valued at about $13 billion. 

Sprint has been struggling to merge its operations with Nextel, which it acquired a few years ago. The Softbank deal would, presumably, strengthen its financial position and enable it to more effectively compete against Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the No. 1 and 2 carriers.

Everyone keeps writing Sprint off but it's still here and its persistence could finally pay off if the Softbank deal goes through and Sprint gets a firmer foundation to support its growth efforts in the U.S.

AT&T tried to buy T-Mobile about 18 months ago, you'll recall, and Sprint was one of the most outspoken opponents, saying it would be hard-pressed to compete against a strengthened AT&T. Although it has since gained some ground, Sprint remains about half the size of Verizon.

The Justice Department blocked that deal and the competitive situation has been in flux since then.

Both Sprint and Softbank, Japan's No. 3 carrier, have been working to expand their high-speed LTE networks, so a merger between the two could bring economies of scale to the build-out effort.