That might bolster the argument that some more regional players, such as MetroPCS Wireless and Leap Wireless, could become more-national challengers with the new assets. AT&T proposes T-Mobile USA sales
The issue, some would note, is that the local divestiture has been a staple of mobile acquisitions in the recent past, and none of that activity appears to have slackened the growing concentration at the top of of the mobile market, as much competition might be argued to exist more broadly within the mobile market, or in the broader communications market.
In city after city, and in the country as a whole, Federal Communications Commission data show the wireless market has grown more highly concentrated.. Possible divestitures
To measure market concentration, the Department of Justice uses a formula known as the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. It considers markets to be highly concentrated when the index tops 2500. The score for the U.S. wireless industry as a whole at last measurement, in June 2010, was 2848, up from 2151 in 2003.
Some cities score much higher, including Oklahoma City at 3100; Springfield, Mo., at 3662; and Lafayette, La., at 4703.
The Justice Department says if AT&T were allowed to buy T-Mobile, the index would rise to more than 3100 nationally, including significant increases in 91 of 97 major markets.
