Mobile network provider Sprint Corp.’s parent company SoftBank Group Corp. is once again talking up the possibility of a merger with rival firm T-Mobile USA Inc., two years after discussions were shot down by U.S. regulators.

Bloomberg reported that the possibility of renewed merger talks was raised by SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son during a discussion with reporters in Tokyo Wednesday.

Both companies’ share prices rose on the news, “as investors bet a deal may finally happen under Trump’s administration’s looser regulatory climate,” Bloomberg reported. It added that Son told reporters he believes a merger is “critical” for both companies if they want to become more competitive in the U.S. mobile landscape, which is currently dominated by Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc.

Son was reportedly interested in acquiring T-Mobile for Sprint around three years ago, only to see his plans scuttled after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department both voiced their opposition to the deal. However, with President Trump’s administration now in office, Son is once again hopeful that he might be able to push through a deal.

“Basically anything is possible,” he said to journalists, Bloomberg reported. “But I think the No. 1 favorite, the quickest route to synergy, is the option that we pursued from the start: T-Mobile.”

However, Son admitted that the ball is in T-Mobile’s park on whether or not it would be receptive to the idea of a merger. As such, he said he would also consider other industry consolidation options.

A lot has changed since rumors of a Sprint-T-Mobile merger first emerged in mid-2014. Back then Sprint was widely considered to be the third biggest wireless carrier in the U.S., but its fortunes have since declined. Bloomberg reported that the company has been losing money each quarter for the last decade. T-Mobile, meanwhile, is now said to be the fastest-growing wireless carrier in the U.S. thanks to a combination of promotions, price cuts and social media marketing campaigns that have seen it steal customers away from both AT&T and Verizon.

With T-Mobile showing such strong growth, it’s not difficult to see why Son is renewing his interest in a merger, said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “I think he’d prefer to own T-Mobile over Sprint, but a merger is his next best option,” he added.

That said, it would still be a surprise if a merger between the two carriers gets approved by regulators, said Holger Mueller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research Inc. He explained that although the new Trump administration might view the idea more favorably, the principles for allowing a merger are not made by the administrations.

“What we do know is that both [companies] are too small to really compete with AT&T and Verizon, even though T-Mobile has shown that turnarounds are possible at this size.,” he said. “The challenge will be to keep up the ‘Uncarrier’ disruptor role when being a mainstream player.”

Data compiled by Statista shows that T-Mobile finished 2016 with 71.46 million subscribers, while Sprint’s subscribers numbered 58.56 million. That means a merged company would have 130.02 million subscribers in total, just below AT&T’s 134.86 million and Verizon’s 145.74 million.

Image: Sprint