AT&T Wireless ponies up $2.3bn for stake of US heartland

'Ownership of the footprint' the new mantra...

AT&T Wireless has made a $2.3bn all-stock offer to buy the 77 per cent of US mobile operator TeleCorp it does not already own.

TeleCorp operates in the US mid-west and south. AT&T Wireless is the third largest network operator in the US and is now independent of cable and long-distance carrier AT&T. The deal will expand its network-owned reach. It covers all the country via roaming and affiliate deals.

Yesterday, Virgin confirmed months of speculation by announcing it will become a virtual mobile operator in the US by piggybacking on the digital network owned by Sprint PCS.