Investors were selling shares of Verizon (VZ -0.09%) and AT&T (T 0.12%) after DISH Network dropped its bid for Sprint Nextel (S), presumably because counter-bidder SoftBank is more capable of building a strong competitor. But before we put Sprint on par with Verizon and AT&T, we need to look at what huge strides the company has to make in order to catch up with its larger rivals. Fool contributor Travis Hoium doesn't think Verizon or AT&T have too much to worry about yet.