Interested parties are preparing bids of up to $3 billion for prepaid brand Boost Mobile, which will be put up for sale as part of concessions offered by T-Mobile US and Sprint to get the green light for their proposed merger.

Reuters reported rival prepaid brand Q Link Wireless is putting together a proposal, with private equity backing, to buy Boost in a deal which could value the brand at between $1.8 billion to $3 billion.

The company’s CEO Issa Asad told Reuters the value will depend on the quality of Boost’s customers, such as level of churn as well as what devices and phone plans they are on. These details are not yet disclosed, he said.

T-Mobile and Sprint received a major boost last week after Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), backed the proposed merger. The regulator was swayed by the pair’s plan to spin-off the Boost prepaid brand, as well as a commitment to pay fines if rural and 5G coverage promises are not met post-merger.

The deal still needs a favourable ruling from the US Department of Justice before closing.

In addition to Q Link, another prepaid wireless company, FreedomPop, is also reportedly involved in a potential takeover bid, although not as a buyer itself.

Its CEO Stephen Stokols told Reuters he was speaking to an undisclosed private equity group, which puts a future value of about $4 billion on Boost.

Stokols said FreedomPop is not a bidder, but he is advising the group preparing a bid. Should an acquisition take place, he believes the private equity group would combine Boost with FreedomPop.

And a third interested party has also emerged. Peter Adderton, who founded Boost Mobile before selling the operator to Nextel in 2004, said he is interested in taking over the unit.

However, he urged regulators to ensure that the merging company is made to sell off spectrum to ensure Boost can be competitive in the market. He also wants Boost to be allowed to strike network agreements with other operators, and not be tied exclusively to T-Mobile and Sprint.