The potential impact of AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile is gaining greater clarity with each passing day.
InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network, has found that the pending deal would bump Verizon from it’s lofty perch as king of mobile ad impressions.
“Towards the end of 2010,” says James Lamberti, VP, Global Research & Marketing at InMobi, “Verizon carried more mobile ad impressions than any other, mostly driven by its high percentage of Android devices running on its network.”
That would all but certainly change if the deal with AT&T and T-Mobile is permitted to occur.
“AT&T’s move with T-Mobile will take it back into the lead and the new network will service over a third of US mobile ad impressions, making it the biggest in the country,” Lamberti adds. “Verizon and Sprint will be playing catch-up, but further acquisitions or a change in mobile platforms running on various networks could certainly change all of that.”
InMobi analyzed its five billion monthly ad requests and found that the AT&T and T-Mobile merger would result in the new company carrying more mobile ad impressions in the US than any other network, topping current leader Verizon by a substantial margin.
In terms of ad impressions broken down by operator, InMobi says, AT&T currently carries 20.4% and T-Mobile 15.1%. Together, that percentage would swell to 35.5%, besting Verizon (24.8%) and Sprint (18%.)
The FCC – which may take up to a year to decide the fate of the $39 billion AT&T, T-Mobile deal – is yet to offer any official feedback or response to the controversial pending acquisition.