AT&T intends to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom. The deal, which is worth $39 billion in cash and stocks, will take approximately 12 months to close according to sources at AT&T.
It will be scrutinized and there is a chance that it will be blocked. Last year, the FCC declared that they may impose restrictions on Verizon and AT&T to help smaller companies compete during the next spectrum auction. Sprint, the third-largest provider, had been in talks with Deutsche Telekon regarding T-Mobile USA, but apparently AT&T made a better offer.
Last year, AT&T held a tiny lead over Verizon wireless with 95.5 million wireless subscribers versus 94.1 million. T-Mobile had 33.7 million. The Verizon iPhone likely pushed the numbers closer and possibly put them in the lead currently.
If the deal is allowed to go through, AT&T will again have a huge lead over the industry. A press conference will be held tomorrow to shed more light on this development.
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