"Near-perfect acquisition" for T-Mobile

T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, is acquiring SunCom Wireless for $2.4 billion to expand into the southeastern United States.

Through the merger, the Bellevue-based carrier, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, will gain coverage and customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Under the deal, T-Mobile will pay $27 in cash for each share of SunCom for a total of $1.6 billion. It will also acquire $800 million in debt.

SunCom reported 1.14 million subscribers at the end of June. That will bring T-Mobile's total to roughly 28.8 million customers, trailing Sprint Nextel, which, at 54 million subscribers, is the country's third-largest carrier.

But the emphasis on the merger is more on gaining network territory.

Since 2004, SunCom has been providing roaming service to T-Mobile in these markets for a fee. By not having to pay the charges and minus other duplicate expenses, T-Mobile said it expects to save about $1 billion.

"The strategic fit of the SunCom operations will make this a near-perfect acquisition," said Robert Dotson, T-Mobile USA president and chief executive. "It will round out our domestic footprint, allowing us to serve 98 of the top 100 markets, and will significantly benefit our financial position by reducing roaming expense."

The merger comes at a time of growth for T-Mobile USA. More than a year ago, the carrier spent $4 billion for the rights to airwaves that will allow it to roll out high-speed networks, called 3G. It estimated it would spend $2.7 billion more from 2006 to 2009 on deployment costs.

Last year, it expected the 3G network to be available commercially in most of its markets by 2008.

SunCom is no stranger to the Northwest. Starting in 1998, SunCom had a strategic partnership with Redmond-based AT&T Wireless, which gave SunCom valuable spectrum in return for equity. As part of the deal, SunCom was also allowed to use the AT&T Wireless brand. That partnership started to dissolve in 2004 after Cingular Wireless bought AT&T Wireless.

SunCom reported a net loss of $222 million on sales of $475.4 million for the first half of 2007.

The acquisition, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to close in the first half of 2008.

Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com