Rumors of a new wave of US mergers and acquisitions are swirling, encouraged by the assumption that the new government will take a laisser-faire approach to telecoms and media consolidation. As well as a potential Verizon-Charter deal, T-Mobile USA is also, once again, at the heart of the speculation. Japan’s Softbank may be preparing to make a new play for TMO, say some sources, and may even be ready to jettison Sprint to secure the more successful cellco. But TMO could also turn predator, and snap up a TV firm to help it wave its disruptive Uncarrier wand over the US pay-TV sector. Since Softbank acquired Sprint, TMO has overtaken that company as the US’s third largest MNO, and has…