AT&T to acquire T-Mobile in $39 billion deal

In a move that would effectively create far and away the biggest mobile service provider in the U.S., AT&T announced this weekend its plans to acquire T-Mobile in a deal worth a reported $39 billion. Should the merger win regulatory approval, AT&T would surpass Verizon as the telecommunications provider with the biggest subscription base.

While the deal faces an uphill battle in attaining governmental clearance, AT&T is hoping that by acquiring T-Mobile's extensive network it can begin to win back customers it has lost to other carriers over the years who have derided the company's poor service in major cities like New York City and San Francisco.

T-Mobile and AT&T both operate on the GSM network - as opposed to the CDMA network Verizon runs on - ensuring the changeover can take place quickly. Moreover, the increased capacity of T-Mobile's network will allow AT&T to circumvent the approval process for building new towers, which can take up to five years and are subject to strict environmental codes.

With T-Mobile's added network capacity, AT&T will reach an additional 46.5 million Americans, crossing a major hurdle as it endeavors to build the most comprehensive, fastest 4G network of all wireless providers.