While I can't completely rule it out since I have no inside knowledge, this sounds like a terrible move. T-Mobile is in a commodity business and they aren't particularly successful at it. While the author tries to make the argument that Google needs retail help (recency bias, methinks), Google could put together a vastly better retail experience for far cheaper than it would take to buy T-Mobile. Unlike Moto, I don't think T-Mobile has any significant IP. Lastly, I don't think Verizon, Sprint and AT&T would be thrilled to now be in direct competition with their largest smartphone OS vendor?