WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Telecom giant AT&T's wireless division has been the target of offers over the last month from a variety of rival telecom titans.
With bidding having closed late Friday afternoon AT&T declined to identify the successful bidder.
Britain's Vodafone, the world's largest wireless company, is expected to make a bid. Cingular, the second-largest U.S. wireless operator, upped its bid Friday to $31.9 billion. Nextel might also pitch a bid.
Japan's DoCoMo, which owns a 16 percent share in AT&T, had also expressed an interest. Sources said Friday that DoCoMo, which had expressed an interest, will likely refrain due to resistance from its leading shareholder, Japanese telecommunications group NTT.
U.S. regulations would require Vodafone to get rid of its Verizon Wireless holdings if it were to acquire AT&T. Verizon is the biggest wireless operator in the U.S. Vodafone, which operates in 26 countries worldwide, has a bigger customer base than the largest three U.S. carriers combined -- 130 million compared to 81 million for Verizon, AT&T and Cingular.
AT&T told shareholders that it would make a decision no later than the end of February.
Vodafone stocks rose as the bidding neared its end, while other bidders and AT&T sank. Vodafone opened at $131.50 and closed at $136.00 from its previous close of $132.25, up $3.75. AT&T opened at $20.13 and closed Friday at $20.00, down from its previous close of $20.06. Both Cingular owners SBC and BellSouth took a dive, with SBC opening at $25.50 and closing at $25.05, down from its previous close of $25.64, and BellSouth opened at $29.99 and closed at $29.55, down .54 cents from its previous close of $30.09.
With six major players competing, some analysts view the U.S. wireless market as prime for consolidation. If Cingular took over AT&T, it would reduce the number of U.S. wireless competitors to five.
But unfavorable January results leaked Thursday might give potential buyers second thoughts. News was that AT&T lost 4 percent of its customers in January and their average revenue per customer fell 10 percent compared to last year's figures.
It was also reported that disgruntled AT&T subscribers filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, California this week, saying that the provider signed them up for one plan and then switched them to another, according to WirelessWeek.com. Also, the Seattle Post reports that 720 AT&T Wireless employees will be laid off from its Washington operation by the end of the summer.
AT&T Wireless declined to comment for this article.
