Verizon Wireless’s CEO, Daniel Mead, said yesterday that the JV between Vodafone and Verizon has no interest in acquiring Sprint Nextel, according to a Reuters report. Mead reportedly said that the company would not be opposing the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal…
Verizon Wireless’s CEO, Daniel Mead, said yesterday that the JV between Vodafone and Verizon has no interest in acquiring Sprint Nextel, according to a Reuters report.
Mead reportedly said that the company would not be opposing the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal and would not be distracted from its plans to become the most profitable wireless operator in the US.
He also reportedly said that the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal would probably be approved by regulators as long as the companies accepted certain conditions.
Mead’s comments are unlikely to end speculation about Verizon Wireless’s future acquisitions strategy.
The JV, owned by Verizon (55%) and Vodafone (45%), currently has a relatively low amount of spectrum compared to its competitors.
Citing figures from Bernstein Research, AT&T yesterday published a set of figures for the current spectrum holdings of the major mobile carriers in the US. These were calculated as a ratio of spectrum holdings (in MHz) divided by millions of subscribers.
AT&T currently has the lowest ratio at 0.86, but this would increase to 1.02 if the deal with T-Mobile USA is completed.
Verizon Wireless, meanwhile, will have a ratio of just 0.93, which is low compared to other players in the market. AT&T gave a combined ratio for Sprint and Clearwire of 3.72. It also gave figures for MetroPCS (3.3) and Leap Wireless (2.33).
Verizon Wireless did not reply to questions before the press deadline.
