Mobile operators in the US are making record investments in 5G networks, positioning the US to lead the world in 5G connectivity. However, Sprint's executive chairman argued Wednesday that the US can't win the 5G race if Sprint's merger with T-Mobile doesn't go through.  

"The only way the US remains the leader... is to allow the Sprint, T-Mobile merger to move forward," Marcelo Claure, executive chairman of the board of Sprint Corporation, said in a keynote address at Mobile World Congress Americas (MWCA) in Los Angeles on Wednesday.  

The combined company, he said, is the only one with the "necessary spectrum assets and financial strength... to allow the US to continue its leadership position."

The new company, he said, will spend close to $40 billion over the next three years to build out its 5G network.