MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist, who believes that prepaid carriers should combine in order to create a smaller but wider-spreading industry. While he wouldn’t say anything about any specific plans his own company has, he did hint at a future — you guessed it — acquisition of Leap Wireless, though he left the issue wide open to alternatives. Part of the problem of not having a direct source — and I’ve tried to establish one at MetroPCS, to no avail — is that I have to rely on another journalists’ interpretation of comments. For instance, Cheng makes it seem like Linquist said that, “there should be about three prepaid providers in the industry.” Did he say should? I’m not sure. Maybe he just said that three is the ideal number. That does seem a bit limited to me, though. Greater competition isn’t just a device to keep prices in line. It also helps weed out the poorer services. Maybe three will be the magical number, but I think the market is the best determinant of that. Linquist did note that Metro would look to acquire more spectrum in the future. This is a logical progression for them. The company continues to grow in bursts, and eventually the only path to further growth will be acquisitions. That might mean Leap, since Leap has more spectrum than other potential targets. They could, however, pursue a handful of smaller deals to help reinforce their network. MetroPCS is currently the fifth largest primary wireless company — that is, one that owns a network — with 7.3 million subscribers.]]>
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