Sprint Corp. said Wednesday it would acquire Nextel Communications Inc. in a $35 billion deal that will create the nation’s third-largest wireless phone carrier, Sprint Nextel.

Coming less than two months after Cingular swallowed AT&T Wireless, the latest merger would leave only four national wireless carriers standing where there were once six.

Consumer advocates decried the prospect of fewer competitors translating to higher prices. But industry analysts said the merger would reduce costs for the new carrier, enabling it to compete fiercely with the two largest carriers.

A combined Sprint Nextel would have nearly 40 million customers, trailing Cingular’s 47 million and Verizon Wireless’ 42 million. The market’s fourth-largest carrier, T-Mobile, has about 16 million customers.

“It will be good for competition,” said Bill Densmore, a Chicago-based director at FitchRatings. “Carriers are already doing all they can to win customers — giving you two or three handsets free when you buy one — and that won’t stop.”

While federal regulators will scrutinize the deal and shareholders must vote on the merger, most analysts expect it to be approved. The companies hope the deal will close in the second half of next year, but analysts said it would take years to integrate the two networks that use different operating systems.

Under terms of the merger, Nextel shareholders will receive about 1.3 shares of stock in the new company and a small amount of cash for each share they hold. The exact amounts will be determined on the date the deal closes.

Sprint’s chairman and chief executive, Gary Forsee, would become chief executive of the new company while Timothy Donahue, Nextel’s chief, would become chairman. The firm’s headquarters would be in Reston, Va., where Nextel is now, and its operating headquarters would be at Sprint’s home in Overland Park.

Tim Donahue, left, president and CEO of Nextel Communications Inc., and Gary Forsee, chairman and CEO of Sprint Corp., shake hands in New York after announcing plans for a combined company. Sprint is buying Nextel to create the nation's third-largest wireless telephone service provider.

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The market punished both stocks in trading Wednesday, pushing Sprint’s price down $1.08, or 4 percent, to $24.02 on the New York Stock Exchange and Nextel’s shares down 57 cents, or 3 percent, to $18.69 on the Nasdaq.