Sprint Nextel's stock price got a boost late Friday on speculation that U.K. wireline incumbent BT could acquire the U.S. firm. Sure, the rumor was immediately debunked by industry analysts, and even as you were reading the previous sentence, the words "no way" were probably already forming in your mind.
Still, it's a fun possibility to think about, especially if you are heading to Chicago later this week for WiMAX World. Both carriers are big backers of WiMAX, and could create one heck of an international WiMAX network. Officials from both companies are sure to be in attendance at the show (Sprint CTO Barry West's name is all over the schedule), so maybe we'll hear more about this later in the week, even if "more" means more laughter at the suggestion of an actual deal.
Meanwhile, Sprint continues to be batted around as a potential acquisition target, though without so much as a bid from anyone being made public. Also, we keep hearing about European carriers who want to press further into the U.S. market, but nothing has happened deal-wide on that front either.
For more:
- Read about Sprint's rumor-driven stock boost in The Kansas City Star
- Check out commentary on the rumor from InformationWeek