Buy me

AT&T Wireless is officially for sale. After nearly two weeks of rumor and speculation AT&T Wireless confirmed that it is evaluating “strategic alternatives.”

AT&T Wireless is officially for sale.

After nearly two weeks of rumor and speculation AT&T Wireless confirmed that it is evaluating “strategic alternatives.” This confirmation came on the same day that AT&T Wireless posted a weak fourth quarter that included a net loss of $84 million and high customer churn rates of 3.3%.

The carrier says local number portability and software problems led to the disappointing results. That and “significant interest from a number of other companies” led to the board’s decision to entertain offers, the carrier says.

According to published reports, AT&T Wireless hired Merrill Lynch to help the service provider sort through bids. Other reports state that Cingular Wireless and NTT DoCoMo have already made initial offers to acquire the third largest mobile service provider in the U.S.

Cingular is the second largest U.S. mobile operator in number of subscribers, behind Verizon Wireless.

Reports estimate that the operator will fetch $11 per share, or about $30 billion.

Last week the rumor mill was working overtime as Cingular, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Nextel Communications and DoCoMo were all supposedly making a bid for AT&T Wireless.

Analysts believe AT&T Wireless’ intent to be acquired suggests that consolidation has finally arrived. Consolidation among the six national operators would lead to improved industry fundamentals through lower operating expenses, lower churn and more efficient uses of capital and spectrum, they say.