GOING RURAL

It seems the large Tier 1 wireless operators have started taking notice of the hinterlands. In the last year, a surprising number of rural operators have been disappearing into the nationwide players, beginning with Sprint's acquisition of a half dozen affiliates (though it may not have had much choice in the matter, considering it was facing lawsuits after its acquisition of Nextel), and now AT&T is buying up Dobson Communications for $2.8 billion.

The rural markets are suddenly a hot place to be. But the thing is that the rural and small markets were never a bad place to be in the first place. Companies such as Alltel had been putting up impressive revenues per user and steady earnings for years.

The fast gains of the metro markets have always appealed to the Tier 1 carriers more — at least until now. With 70% of the population carrying a cell phone and cities oversaturated with carriers and customers, growth is now a difficult thing to come by. While many of the operators are growing incrementally, they seem to be stealing customers from one another rather than finding new growth opportunities. So suddenly the rural markets are looking more attractive.

The AT&Ts and Sprints aren't the only ones. The private equity markets seem to think there is a lot of potential in the heartland. A handful of private investors snapped up the largest of the Tier 2 operators, Alltel, and this is while Verizon Wireless was reportedly expressing interest. This may signal a renewed interest in the vast middle that certainly hasn't been neglected but has definitely been given second priority to the city.

With a Dobson under its wing, AT&T will find itself paying a lot closer attention to markets that a few years ago it wouldn't bat an eye at. But that may be where the only growth opportunity is.

ONLINE

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