Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Sprint Nextel Corp., the third- largest U.S. wireless carrier, may buy MetroPCS Communications Inc. as acquisition activity in the low-priced mobile-phone service industry heats up, Collins Stewart LLC said. Customers who shop for the contract-free service have been disproportionately affected by last year’s recession, making it harder for carriers to increase sales, Greg Miller, a New York- based analyst at Collins Stewart, said today in a note to investors. Sprint may buy MetroPCS to add to its base of prepaid customers, which already includes subscribers of the Boost Unlimited and Virgin Mobile USA Inc. brands, said Miller, who rates Sprint shares “hold.” MetroPCS fell 49 percent last year and its market capitalization is currently about half what it was at the end of 2008.

“It helps Sprint continue to consolidate its position in the increasingly competitive prepaid marketplace in densely populated major metro centers while allowing MetroPCS shareholders an avenue to continue to participate in the market from a position of greater strength,” he said in the note. Sprint spokesman James Fisher didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Jim Mathias, spokesman for Dallas- based MetroPCS, declined to comment.

Another Target

Leap Wireless International Inc., a pay-as-you-go carrier with a business model similar to MetroPCS’s, also may be an acquisition target for larger companies such as Sprint or T- Mobile USA Inc., Miller said. Leap and MetroPCS abandoned an attempt to combine in 2007 after the two couldn’t agree on a price.

Leap is said to be searching for a buyer and has approached the two biggest U.S. carriers, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, according to a Feb. 1 report in the Wall Street Journal.

Sprint, based in Overland Park, Kansas, rose 8 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $3.51 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares doubled last year. MetroPCS declined 1 cent to $5.87. San Diego-based Leap fell 25 cents to $13.95 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.