Fewer wireless carriers could rein in price cuts

How many wireless carriers do we need? It's a question that's popping up again as T-Mobile USA is said to be looking at buying Sprint Nextel Corp. Now that most people have a cell phone and once-heady growth in the industry is slowing, analysts say carriers are going to be looking at buying each other to increase their scale and to avoid competing too much on price. Consumers have been benefiting from relentless price-cutting on cell phone service in the past few years. Verizon Wireless and AT&T, No. 1 and No. 2 in the industry, have been grabbing most of the remaining customers who are willing and able to sign two-year contracts — Verizon because it has the best network, AT&T because it has the iPhone. That leaves No. 3 Sprint and No. 4 T-Mobile USA scrambling for lower-paying prepaid customers, where they are also competing with smaller carriers like MetroPCS and Leap.