After months of back and forth, Sprint and T-Mobile’s merger talks began again earlier this month. However, the news was taken with a grain of salt given the unreliable negotiations the two carriers have gone through. It seems our apprehension was undeserved because the two have “made progress” and a deal may come as soon as next week.

According to Reuters, the negotiation between Sprint and T-Mobile has been heating up and the two are aiming to reach a deal some time next week. Sprint is primarily owned by Softbank  (about 84.7-percent) and T-Mobile is primarily owned by Deutsche Telekom (about 63-percent).

The timing for the deadline is for Deutsche Telekom to consolidate the two companies. It reportedly doesn’t matter if it gains a majority stake

Past attempted deals between the two companies have fallen apart because a deal that benefits both parties could not be reached. That wasn’t enough to stop them from trying to make a deal happen. Sources close to the situation did tell Reuters that a deal is considered imminent given how past deals have fallen apart, but the negotiations will still continue in hopes the trend is bucked.