Oppenheimer: Bidding War Brewing For T-Mobile US Inc.?

T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) will soon sign a deal to sell itself, but who the buyer may be is up in the air, an analyst said recently

Oppenheimer's Timothy Horan said DISH Network Corp's (NASDAQ: DISH) will soon make a $40 a share bid for T-Mobile so that it can put to use the spectrum it's been stockpiling for more than a decade and recently estimated at $28 billion.

"Dish's only other option is to sell its spectrum," Horan said in a research note.

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Horan sees a natural convergence of cellphone and TV companies, offering the example of AT&T Inc.'s pending $48.5 billion deal to acquire DirecTV.

Without breaking into broadband, Dish's core TV business on a stand-alone basis "will be under a lot of pressure operationally and strategically," Horan said.

But it better act quickly. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) America Movil SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE: AMX) and others may be interested and Horan sees a bidding war brewing.

"T-Mobile is the king-maker" in the unfolding consolidation, Horan said, adding that regardless of timing, he expects all four wireless carriers to align with paid TV providers within the next year.

Down the road, Horan sees Comcast, Sprint Corporation, AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. as the most likely survivors.

T-Mobile traded recently down 0.7 percent at $30.26 a share.