AT&T Talks to Sell T-Mobile Assets Go Cold

Talks on asset sales intended to help AT&T win approval for its acquisition of T-Mobile USA have gone cold, according to people familiar with the matter, the strongest sign yet that AT&T may abandon the $39 billion deal.

While AT&T could still try to fight the Justice Department in court, alternatives to a full-blown merger are looking more likely, the people said. Those options include AT&T's taking a stake in the smaller carrier or doing a joint venture to share network technology, they said. These people cautioned that while a divestiture deal to get the acquisition done seemed increasingly remote, all options remain on the table. AT&T and Deutsche Telekom had been looking to sell off mainly T-Mobile USA assets to other wireless carriers, the people said. They had been in serious discussions to divest assets worth more than 30% of the deal's value to Leap Wireless International Inc., the people added. Other potential buyers for T-Mobile assets include satellite-TV provider Dish Network Corp., cellular operator MetroPCS Communications Inc. and foreign buyers. But the Leap talks recently faltered amid concern that even with such sales, the deal was unlikely to win over the Justice Department, the people said.