WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is set to file papers with the Federal Communications Commission today seeking approval for its proposed $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
The FCC is expected to issue a notice requesting public comment on the proposed transaction in mid-April.
The merger, announced last month after Cingular Wireless outbid Britain’s Vodafone Group plc for AT&T Wireless, would create the largest domestic wireless carrier.
Yesterday, in a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post, Stan Sigman, president and chief executive officer of Cingular Wireless, said the combination of the nation’s No. 2 and No. 3 mobile-phone operators “is especially good news for America’s wireless users.”
Sigman predicted the merger would result in improved call quality, broader coverage, more data services and additional wireless service plans.
The two companies want the merger completed by the end of the year.
