AT&T to Buy T-Mobile

AT&T Inc. may soon become one of the largest cellphone companies in the country.

Business media are buzzing over an announcement by AT&T that it will buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $39 billion.

This is of special interest to Loma Linda, known as a city of doctors, student doctors and hospitals that are reliant on all manner of wireless technology. Earlier this year, the city had completed an agreement with AT&T to place a monopine cell tower at the Civic Center to fill a “coverage gap,” officials said.

The tower was activated in January, officials said. At the time, city staff they were working to bring more carriers to the area.

It is not immediately known what this will mean for the city or even AT&T or T-Mobil users. According to an Associated Press report, T-Mobile USA's 33.7 million subscribers, will not see an immediate change to service. And it may take a year for the acquisition to close because of the long regulatory process.

If it closes, T-Mobile USA customers would get access to AT&T's phone line-up, including the iPhone, officials said.

Business experts said the deal would cut the number of wireless carriers with national coverage from four to three, and is sure to face close regulatory scrutiny.

It also removes a potential partner for Sprint Nextel Corp., the struggling No. 3 carrier, which had been in talks to combine with T-Mobile USA, according to Wall Street Journal reports.

AT&T is now the country's second-largest wireless carrier and T-Mobile USA is the fourth largest, according to the Associated Press. The acquisition could give AT&T 129 million subscribers, vaulting it past Verizon Wireless to make it the largest U.S. cellphone company.

The combined company would serve about 43 percent of U.S. cellphones, the report said.