Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) are very similar in a lot of ways. They're both national players in wireless communications, and both compete to be budget wireless providers -- compared to premium players AT&T and Verizon. As a result, they have generally generated lower margins than their larger rivals and lower profitability, which is why they have proposed merging. But the merger has been under regulatory pressure, as it would leave the U.S. with only three major wireless networks and it's possible none of them would offer low-cost plans. 

If the merger falls through, which side of these two wireless companies do investors want to be on? Between T-Mobile and Sprint, the better pick may not be as difficult to identify as it may seem. 

The numbers tell the story

The wireless business is all about generating the most revenue from the very high capital expenditures required to build a network. You can see below that T-Mobile has done better generating value from its network by growing more quickly, generating higher return on assets, and having higher net income than Sprint, except for the one-time gains both companies took from the tax cut passed late in 2017.