USA Today reported on Wednesday that Cingular Wireless has made a formal offer to acquire AT&T Wireless in a deal that would create the largest wireless carrier in the U.S.

, a position currently held by Verizon Wireless. According to the national newspaper, Cingular’s cash offer is under consideration by the AT&T Wireless board of directors. Both companies refused comment.
A consolidation in the wireless carrier industry has long been expected. Of the top six wireless providers, only Nextel has been profitable in recent years.
Both Cingular and AT&T offer GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) technology. A union of the two networks could increase coverage for fleets that have deployed GSM systems. What impact a merger or takeover would have on prices is not known.
A merger would leave T-Mobile as the only other national GSM network. Among the national players, Verizon and Sprint provide service based on the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology developed by Qualcomm. Nextel, the other national company, uses Motorola’s iDen technology.