NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc ChiefFinancial Officer Braxton Carter said on Wednesday that heexpected more consolidation in the U.S. wireless market and madea case for a deal between his company and bigger rival SprintCorp.
Carter declined to say whether T-Mobile US, the No. 4 U.S.mobile provider, and Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. operator, hadtalked. "It's the logical ultimate combination," Carter toldReuters on the sidelines of the Goldman Sachs Communacopiainvestor conference in New York.
"We think it's not a question of if but when that there'sfurther consolidation in our industry," Carter told theaudience.
Carter conceded that the current U.S. regulatory environmentwas "tough" for consolidation as the government already blockedT-Mobile's proposed sale to AT&T Inc in 2011, saying thatthe market needed four national operators.
He said a deal involving the smaller national operatorswould be good for the industry. He described the U.S. market asa "duopoly" because AT&T and larger rival Verizon Wireless are far bigger than T-Mobile and Sprint.
So if a consolidation resulted in a much bigger No. 3 rivalto AT&T and Verizon, "you create a more competitiveenvironment," Carter said.
However, such a deal might take time to come together.Carter's comments followed a prediction by No. 2 rival AT&TInc's chief executive officer, Randall Stephenson, the daybefore about the unlikelihood of any major mergers here in thenext few years because regulators appear to want four majoroperators.
Since it closed its merger with smaller provider MetroPCS inApril, T-Mobile US itself has been improving its customernumbers by competing aggressively against AT&T with new consumerofferings and direct marketing.
AT&T's Stephenson had said Tuesday that his company was onlyaffected by the tougher competition from T-Mobile US in the"price-sensitive" part of the market.
But on Wednesday T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer MikeSievert quipped during his appearance at the conference that"the price-sensitive part of the market is the lower 90percent."
T-Mobile shares were up 2.7 percent at $26.12 on New YorkStock Exchange on Wednesday, while Sprint was down 0.5 percentat $6.16.
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