Cingular To Buy AT&T Wireless

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posted Feb 17, 2004, 7:13 AM

updated It's official: Cingular today announced a $41 billion deal to acquire AT&T Wireless. The acquisition, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to be completed as soon as late 2004. If effective today, the deal would create a company with 46 million customers, by far the largest in the country. Since both companies use GSM technology, the network integration will bring customers almost immediate improvement in coverage and call quality. The combination of the companies' spectrum holdings will also permit accelerated rollout of 3G services. The deal ends a several-day bidding war that pitted Cingular against European powerhouse Vodafone. Reuters reports that Vodafone was willing to bid as high as $39.4 billion. Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo will reportedly sell its 16-percent stake in AT&T Wireless for cash.

more info at Cingular »
more info at Reuters »

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