NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Cingular Wireless made an all-cash offer for competitor AT&T Wireless over the weekend in a bid to create the nation's largest cell phone provider, according to a published report.

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USA Today, citing executives with knowledge of the bid, reported the offer, although it did not give a value of the potential deal. It said the offer included a premium over AT&T Wireless's (AWE: Research, Estimates) Friday closing price of $9.99, up 18 cents, which gave the No. 3 wireless phone company a market capitalization of $27.1 billion. The newspaper said AT&T's response is unknown.

The newspaper said that Cingular's two parent companies, SBC Communications Inc. (SBC: Research, Estimates), which owns 60 percent, and BellSouth Corp. (BLS: Research, Estimates), which owns the rest, will go to the public debt market to raise funds for the offer.