Business

National | business | Dan Perkins

Tough call

Cingular Wireless appears to be the big winner in the AT&T Wireless sweepstakes, outbidding Britian's Vodafone Group for the right to pay more than $40 billion for the nation's third-largest wireless company.

But if Cingular Wireless is the winner, then who are the losers?

For starters, it could be Verizon Wireless. The proposed deal, which must be approved by AT&T Wireless shareholders and federal regulators, would create the nation's largest mobile-phone company with 46 million subscribers. Current market leader Verizon Wireless has 37.5 million customers.

Some consumer advocates worry that consumers could wind up on the short end as well. They fear that by trimming the number of cellular companies in the market, the merger will reduce the competition that has driven down prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of cellular services has fallen nearly 30 percent since 1998.

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March 06, 2004, Vol. 19, No. 9

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