Leap Wireless would consider joining forces with another company,...

to further building the business,” Hutcheson said. MetroPCS has been the favorite to buy Leap since last September, when it proposed to the carrier (CD Sept 5 p2). A post-700 MHz auction MetroPCS deal still seems likeliest, but cable and satellite companies looking to enter wireless could be interested, Stanford Group analyst Michael Nelson said. Buying or joint venturing with Leap could cost less than buying spectrum, he said. AT&T also could make a move on Leap, Egan-Jones said in a note. “It is probably cheaper for AT&T to purchase Leap than to expand its own systems,” the analyst firm said. Nelson disagreed, citing high integration costs. An AT&T deal would make “no sense at all” because GSM carrier AT&T would need to convert Leap CDMA-based network, he said. Leap also updated investors on 700 MHz auction plans and its earnings results restatement on the period from 2004 through Q2 2007. Leap “filed to participate in Auction 73,” Hutcheson said. “The company has been a disciplined bidder in past auctions resulting in one of the lowest average price per MHz POP paid, and the company expects to be thoughtful in managing its spectrum opportunities and liquidity.” Earnings revisions shrank service revenue $8 million and operating income $23 million over the restated periods, he said. Leap expects related regulatory filings to be done by Dec. 31, he said. The restatement slowed release of Leap Q3 results; other U.S. carriers reported earnings in late October and early November. In Q3, Leap net losses grew significantly, rising $42.5 million year-over year to $43.3 million. Leap blamed higher interest and taxes from accounting method revisions. Gross customer adds, up 11 percent year-over-year, were “less than we anticipated,” said Hutcheson, citing “changes in customer buying patterns during the third quarter.” In Q4 Leap should hit expected customer adds, driven by “attractive post-Thanksgiving results,” he said.