Sprint considering outbidding T-Mobile for MetroPCS, reports say

IDG News Service - Board members at Sprint Nextel are expected to discuss whether to pursue a merger with rival mobile carrier MetroPCS during a meeting Friday, according to a news report.

Sprint, which considered a merger with MetroPCS earlier this year, may debate whether to outbid T-Mobile USA for the carrier, according to The Wall Street Journal. MetroPCS announced this week that T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom has made a merger offer.

Sprint's board rejected a merger with MetroPCS in February.

A Sprint spokesman declined to comment on news reports that Sprint was considering a bid for MetroPCS.

Sprint's board seems unwilling to enter into mergers, said Jeff Kagan, a telecom analyst. The board has rejected past overtures by T-Mobile, he said.

"Where is the loose screw at Sprint Nextel anyway?" he said in an email. "CEO Dan Hesse seems to want to do deals. However, the Sprint board of directors doesn't. This behavior is not helping Sprint."

Sprint has posted net losses in 19 straight financial quarters. The third largest mobile carrier in the U.S. is in the middle of an effort to save money by consolidating multiple network technologies into one network and to roll out LTE service.