<p>The board of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. met Monday after Cingular Wireless boosted its offer to $38 billion cash for the nations third-largest mobile phone provider in a bidding war with Britains Vodafone Group PLC, according to people familiar with the talks.</p><p>A deal with Cingular, whose latest offer is an 18 percent premium over AT&T Wireless closing share price Friday, could slim the field of national wireless carriers from six to five, possibly easing the price wars battering the industry.</p><p>Vodafone has matched Cingulars offers in each stage of the process, two sources said on condition of anonymity. It was unclear if Vodafone had increased its offer on Monday.</p><p>There was no timetable on when AT&T Wireless, whose board was meeting in New York, would decide who will be its buyer. AT&T Wireless, Cingular and Vodafone all declined to comment.</p><p>Were pretty sure well find out soon whats going on one way or another, a source familiar with the negotiations said on condition of anonymity. A second source also familiar with the situation called the situation very competitive and very fluid.</p><p>Atlanta-based Cingular, the nations No. 2 mobile phone provider, early Monday offered $14 a share for Redmond, Wash.-based AT&T Wireless, after offering $13 a share or $35 billion over the weekend, two sources said Monday on condition of anonymity.</p><p>Vodafone PLC of Britain also bid $35 billion over the weekend, a source said.</p><p>Other potential suitors were NTT DoCoMo of Japan, which already owns 16 percent of AT&T Wireless, and Nextel Communications of Reston, Va. However, only Cingular and Vodafone submitted bids by Fridays deadline set by AT&T Wireless.</p><p>A Vodafone deal would require the British cell phone giant to sell its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, the biggest mobile phone company in the United States. Verizon Communications chief executive Ivan Seidenberg has said his company would be pleased to assume full ownership of Verizon Wireless.</p><p>AT&T Wireless share price has risen steadily in recent weeks on news that it was putting itself on the auction block. The carrier has more than 22 million subscribers, including a sizable base of corporate clients who tend to use more services and spend more money.</p><p>But the company has struggled in recent months.</p><p>Late last year, it couldnt add new subscribers because of a glitch in a new software system. The company also has acknowledged that it has lost more customers than it had gained under the new federal rules that took effect in late November allowing cell phone users to change carriers without losing their phone numbers. The company has not released specific figures.</p><p>AT&T Wireless shares closed at $11.82 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2865484)</p><p>HASH(0x2865508)</p><p>HASH(0x28655c8)</p>
