By Ben Fox Rubin
AT&T Inc. (T) agreed to acquire Atlantic Tele-Network Inc.'s
(ATNI) retail wireless operations in the U.S. for about $780
million, building up its substantial subscriber base.
The deal includes licenses, network assets, retail stores and
about 585,000 subscribers. Atlantic Tele-Network operates under the
Alltel name in the U.S. and its network covers about 4.6 million
people primarily in rural areas in Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, North
Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina.
The deal, which is subject to review by the Federal
Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, comes amid
growing consolidation efforts in the telecommunications
industry.
AT&T in late 2011 bowed out of its effort to buy Deutsche
Telekom AG's (DTEGY, DTE.XE) T-Mobile USA for $39 billion amid
antitrust concerns from U.S. regulators. T-Mobile agreed to merge
with MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS) instead. Meanwhile, bidding
for Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) has heated up, with Sprint Nextel
Corp.'s (S) effort to buy the half of Clearwire it doesn't own for
about $2.2 billion being challenged by a rival bid from Dish
Network Corp. (DISH).
AT&T also has been working to beef up its network, as last
month it received approval from the FCC to acquire licenses for
wireless airwaves from Nextwave Wireless Inc. (WAVE), paving the
way for the telecommunications company to boost the delivery of
data to smartphones and other mobile devices. It also recently
disclosed a $14 billion plan to expand its wireless and wired
network.
In October, AT&T's profit edged up though revenue fell
slightly as additions of contract subscribers slowed.
Shares closed Friday at $33.44 and were down 1.1% premarket. The
stock is down 5.2% over the past three months.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@dowjones.com.
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