AT&T Inc. may have abandoned its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA, but that doesn't mean consolidation in the U.S. wireless industry is now out of the question.
In a note to clients Thursday, an analyst with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised the possibility that Leap Wireless International Inc. and MetroPCS Communications Inc. could be takeover targets for Dallas-based AT&T or Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reported. JPMorgan analyst Phil Cusick said San Diego-based Leap and Dallas-based MetroPCS could represent "near-term" sources of spectrum for a purchaser.
The analyst believes there is a "strong likelihood" that regulators would give a larger national carrier approval to buy Leap or MetroPCS.
Earlier this month, AT&T abandoned its bid to acquire T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom AG in the face of strong government opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission.
Leap and MetroPCS are significantly smaller than T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless operator based on the number of subscribers (33.7 million: end of third quarter 2011). MetroPCS had 9.1 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter while Leap – the holding company that owns Cricket – ended the same period with nearly 5.76 million subscribers.
