Oppenheimer Follows Up On AT&T/T-Mobile Deal, Industry Implications (T)

“More than ten days after the AT&T Inc. T/T-Mobile deal was announced, we are following up with more thoughts on the transaction,” Oppenheimer started in a recent report. “To gain more insight on the regulatory approval process, we have talked to several regulatory experts and AT&T's management team. “Our conclusion is that the deal can get done with acceptable concessions, but it will clearly be heavy lifting. We believe a deal can be consummated within the one-year time period. “Leap Wireless International Inc. LEAP and MetroPCS Communications, Inc. PCS are the big ancillary beneficiaries, as is Sprint longer term. The transaction is slightly negative for the towers, in the intermediate to long-term time frame, but we expect very strong wireless data growth to drive decent stock performance in the next year.” AT&T closed Thursday at $15.47.