AT&T BUYING T-MOBILE

AT&T, the nation’s second largest wireless provider, has just announced that it will acquire T-Mobile USA from parent company Deutsche Telekom in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $39 billion. With all of the talk of Sprint and T-Mobile joining up, the AT&T news comes out of the blue — though strategically it makes more sense due to both carriers’ spectrum and network technology.

It has been widely reported that Deutsche Telekom was looking to get rid of T-Mobile USA for various reasons. AT&T has also committed to delivering LTE to an additional 46 million people with the T-Mobile acquisition, promising to cover close to 95% of the U.S. population with LTE wireless services in the future. The deal is expected to close, pending regulatory approval, within the next 12 months.

Sprint quickly fired off statement to express their opposition to the merger. “The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile USA, if approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), would alter dramatically the structure of the communications industry,” writes Sprint. “AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would be almost three times the size of Sprint, the third largest wireless competitor.”

The company went on to say that the merged GSM carriers, along with Verizon Wireless, would control nearly 80% of the postpaid wireless market in the United States. AT&T’s CEO, Ralph de la Vega, has said that the deal should be approved by both government bodies based on historical precedence. “I think if the criteria that has been used in the past is used against this merger, I think the appropriate authorities will find there will still be plenty of competition left,” said de la Vega in a statement to Mobilized. Should the merger fall through, AT&T could owe Deutsche Telekom as much as $3 billion.