AT&T said it will buy T-Mobile USA from parent Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock. The deal has been approved by the board of directors of both firms, but is still subject to regulatory approvals by the FCC and Department of Justice. The companies expect the transaction to close in one year. The merger, which would combine the No. 2 and No. 4 U.S. wireless carriers, would dramatically increase AT&T’s subscriber base from 95.5 million to 129.2 million. It also will significantly broaden AT&T’s network footprint. The company said the transaction will allow it to deploy LTE to 95 percent of the U.S. population, or approximately 294 million people, reaching an additional 46.5 million people than it could with its current LTE deployment plans. AT&T and T-Mobile are the nation’s largest GSM carriers. The two other Tier 1 U.S. wireless carriers–Verizon Wireless (currently the nation’s largest wireless carrier) and Sprint Nextel (the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier)–both operate CDMA networks.

Buying their way to the top

Read more: AT&T to buy T-Mobile USA for $39B – FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/att-buy-t-mobile-usa-39b/2011-03-20#ixzz1HCS6h7FM