AT&T to buy Leap Wireless for about $1.2 billion

[onehandle]

Source: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — AT&T Inc. said Friday that it has agreed to acquire Leap Wireless International Inc., the pre-paid cellphone carrier that operates under the Cricket brand, for about $1.19 billion in cash, or $15 a share.

The purchase gives the nation's No. 2 cellphone carrier a leg-up in serving customers who prefer not to have lengthy contracts. Leap's Cricket service has 5 million subscribers. The deal also gives AT&T the right to use Leap's unused airwaves — also known as spectrum — to expand its network.

Spectrum is the lifeblood of the wireless industry and the fight to grab more of it has spurred a recent wave of consolidation. In April, No. 4 T-Mobile completed its acquisition of pre-paid carrier MetroPCS. The company plans to shut down the MetroPCS network in two years, so it can use the airwaves to improve coverage and data speeds. On Wednesday, Japan's SoftBank Corp. completed its $21.6 billion takeover of No. 3 Sprint Corp.

As part of its deal, AT&T plans to keep the Cricket brand name, but provide Cricket customers with a broader range of devices and give them access to AT&T's "4G LTE" high speed wireless network. AT&T says it plans to expand Cricket's presence in the U.S.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/t-buy-leap-wireless-1-2-billion-211627709.html

[KoKo]

1. Good! Will allow ATT to REALLY spy on the REAL TERRORISTS...the PRE-PAID CROWD...Throw Aways...

Of course many "innocents" (as usual will get swept up in this) and the fees will go up for those whose only cell they can afford is a "pre-paid."

COOL STUFF! UGH... BUT MORE SERVICES...YEAH!

As part of its deal, AT&T plans to keep the Cricket brand name, but provide Cricket customers with a broader range of devices and give them access to AT&T's "4G LTE" high speed wireless network. AT&T says it plans to expand Cricket's presence in the U.S