MetroPCS CFO Says AT&T’s T-Mobile USA Deal Likely to Fail

MetroPCS Communications Chief Financial Officer J. Braxton Carter said AT&T’s attempt to buy T-Mobile USA is likely to fail, signaling lack of confidence by a company AT&T had approached to help with the transaction.

AT&T, seeking regulatory approval for the deal, has been in discussions with MetroPCS to sell spectrum and customers as a way of propping up competition in the absence of T-Mobile. Discussing any scenarios to save the $39 billion deal is “almost kind of moot at this point given the intense opposition by the government,” Carter said. Companies involved need to move on to “plan B,” he said. The comments suggest the odds of AT&T completing the T- Mobile takeover may be decreasing and that AT&T may need to find another partner to buy some assets as part of the transaction.