Deutsche Telecom in talks to buy MetroPCS for merger with T-Mobile USA, MetroPCS confirms

MetroPCS confirmed in a statement that it entered talks with T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telecom to be bought and merged with T-Mobile’s USA division. After its stock shot up earlier this afternoon due to MetroPCS rumors, the nation’s fifth-largest carrier is believed to be valued at roughly $6.9 billion. The deal is expected to be announced as early as tomorrow, according to what several sources indicated to the New York Times.

The merger could help Deutsche Telecom’s hurting U.S. business after its failed merger with AT&T earlier this year. While talks are certainly going on, MetroPCS said in a statement that there is no definite deal in place:

MetroPCS today confirmed that it is in discussions with Deutsche Telekom regarding an agreement to combine T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS.  There can be no assurances that any transaction will result from these discussions, and the Company does not intend to comment further unless and until an agreement is reached.

T-Mobile has been financially hurting recently; customers are flocking to AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless for what many believe is a better handset offering. There is another thing T-Mobile does not have: the iPhone. Nonetheless, T-Mobile launched an aggressive plan last month to entice unlocked iPhone 5 users over to the network.

In its Q2 quarterly earnings, T-Mobile reported a grim loss of 205,000 customers compared to 50,000 net customer losses in the second quarter of 2011. T-Mobile seemed a little optimistic, however: “Looking ahead, T-Mobile USA will continue to invest in a number of key areas including the modernization of our network as we pave the way for LTE service in 2013, retail expansion, as well as an increased investment in promoting our brand.”

T-Mobile USA currently has 33.2 million and sits as the nation’s fourth-largest carrier. MetroPCS falls right behind with 9.5 million subscribers as of earlier this year. MetroPCS certainly is not huge by any means, but it does have spectrum and customers in different parts of the country that T-Mobile could capitalize on and bring itself back as a major player. That will take sometime, though.

We will keep you updated on the latest.