Third-place U.S. carrier Sprint Nextel has confirmed talks about a possible deal with Japanese telco SoftBank.
On Thursday, Sprint Nextel confirmed it was having discussions with SoftBank about a "substantial investment" from the Japanese carrier.
Counteroffer on hold
In more pending deal news, CNET reported on Wednesday that Sprint has decided to take a "wait-and-see approach" with any possible counteroffer bid for prepaid rival MetroPCS.
Last week, German carrier Deutsche Telekom announced its own intentions to merge MetroPCS with its T-Mobile USA division.
Sprint also has designs on MetroPCS, and has been expected to make a counteroffer bid to block rival T-Mobile from gaining any further market share.
Those plans may now be on ice as Sprint waits to get a peek inside Deutsche Telekom's proxy filing, which should provide a better look at negotiations between the two companies.
Sprint and T-Mobile USA are each working hard to play catch-up when it comes to 4G LTE, with MetroPCS viewed as quick way to quickly build out such a network.
While Sprint now offers 4G LTE in a handful of U.S. cities, T-Mobile is not expected to launch its faster data network until next year.