AT&T Agrees to Buy Leap Wireless In Deal to Keep Pace With Verizon

AT&T Inc. announced July 12 that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Leap Wireless International Inc., a regional prepaid wireless service provider.

Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will buy up all of Leap’s stock and wireless properties, including licenses, network assets, retail stores, and roughly 5 million subscriptions.

Leap, which offers services under the Cricket brand name, has been mentioned as a possible merger partner for not only AT&T, but also T-Mobile USA Inc., which earlier this year finalized a merger with MetroPCS Communications Inc.

The deal is meant to bolster AT&T’s spectrum holdings and national ...