Following the LBO of Alltel Corp., all eyes fall on the remaining wireless
carriers. While
TheDeal.com
speculates that Sprint Nextel Corp. may be the next telecom in play, it
seems German trading would suggest another U.S. carrier is in play too:
T-Mobile.
Shares
of Deutsche Telekom AG rose on speculation that the company may sell or
spin off its U.S.-based wireless unit, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier. While
DT
may deny the rumors, so too did Alltel following
TheDeal.com
first suggesting a buyout in November. Both have a few things in common,
unlike Sprint Nextel. In addition to being the smaller national carriers —
Alltel ranks fifth — both lack high-speed service. However, T-Mobile's allure
is the spectrum it recently purchased to fill the void. Combine that with the
company's exclusive Sidekick messaging phone (pictured above), which is popular with teens and
20-somethings, and T-Mobile looks like a better prize than Sprint Nextel,
which is still struggling with integration issues. —Matthew
Wurtzel
Continue reading below
