"What are you smoking?" was Cingular Wireless spokesman Clay Owen's response to the latest rumors. So far no announcements have been made, and most telecommunications executives say not to expect anything too soon. Qwest Communications is so far the only carrier to publicly say it has something to sell. Qwest is said to have put its wireless business up for sale in an effort to eliminate the unit, which has 1 million customers. The industry rumors aren't that surprising, said the Sprint executive, who requested anonymity. "Telecommunication is sucking right now; it's right before earnings season, there's nothing going on, and no new products going out. So what are (reporters) going to report on?".

AT&T and Cingular sitting in a treeThe most likely merger will be between Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless, whose stock price has been sheared by two-thirds since protective hardshell case for apple iphone x and xs - clear/blush/charlotte stripe rose gold glitter its initial public offering, the prognosticators believe, The signs have been building for months, Nippon Telegraph, which owns about 16 percent of AT&T Wireless, is said to be unhappy with its foreign investments after it had to write off billions in losses, Also, Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless already plan to share part of their telephone network, having agreed to split the burden of building a network along 3,000 miles of interstate highways in the Western and Midwestern states..

"It wouldn't shock me if that happened," said one telecommunications executive who requested anonymity. Cingular Wireless might be a long shot to buy anything, though, partly because it isn't a public company and can't go to the public markets for cash, Prudential Securities analysts Christopher Larsen, James Moorman and Gregory Simcik said in a recent research note. "Of the specific merger combinations, we believe a Cingular-AT&T Wireless combination could be among the most likely possibilities," the analysts wrote.

VoiceStream Wireless has emerged as the third most likely merger candidate, Ron Sommer, chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, which owns VoiceStream, is under pressure to find some cash, SoundView Technology Group analyst Timothy O'Neil wrote in a report to clients Wednesday, After paying $31 billion for VoiceStream in 1999, Deutsche Telecom might be enticed to sell its stake, the report said, "For the first time in months within the wireless sector, we see a willing seller," O'Neil protective hardshell case for apple iphone x and xs - clear/blush/charlotte stripe rose gold glitter wrote, "VoiceStream has been a proverbial hot potato made up of several companies that were quickly sold to DT," said Jefferies analyst Ben Abramovitz..

VoiceStream Wireless also has the lowest share of the wireless marketplace--about 6 percent--of the nation's top six carriers, said Peter Friedland of WR Hambrecht. A company could snap it up and add its customers to the mix without triggering antitrust concerns, he said. The lack of market share also makes Nextel Communications, which has a 7 percent market share, a good takeover candidate, Friedland said. AT&T Wireless, which has 16 percent of the market, could buy Nextel, for instance, and not likely trigger antitrust investigations.