AT&T is set to buy-out the minority partner in its Cincinnati metropolitan business for US$320 million in cash. The 34 percent stake in Cincinnati SMSA and 45 percent interest in Cincinnati SMSA Tower Holdings are currently owned by CRM software company Convergys, as a result of its spin-out from Cincinnati Bell in 1998. AT&T already manages the businesses on a day-to-day basis, with Larry Evans, vice president and general manager of AT&T Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, noting: “financially and operationally, it makes sense for AT&T to purchase Convergys’ minority stake in our Cincinnati wireless operations.” Because the transaction will see the operator acquiring interests in partnerships it already controls, regulatory approvals are not needed. The sale is expected to close in early July 2011.

Separately, the US number-two operator said support for its merger with T-Mobile USA is “strong, growing” – in the same week that number three operator Sprint made a formal request that regulators block the deal. AT&T said that “several community, civic, minority and labour organisations” had urged the Federal Communications Commission to green-light the deal, with the governors of 15 states also expressing their support. The company described the proposed merger as “a private-capital solution that addresses an important public-policy goal set by President Obama: expanding mobile broadband to more Americans.”