New York/London, Feb 17: Vodafone Group Plc may raise its offer for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to as much as USD 39.4 billion, while Cingular Wireless is standing firm with a lower cash offer, sources familiar with the situation said. Britain's Vodafone is considering hiking its bid for AT&T Wireless, the No. 3 U.S. wireless telephone company, to about USD 14.50 a share, or roughly USD 39.4 billion, sources said. Vodafone planned to hold a board meeting on Tuesday morning, the sources said. Meanwhile, as of 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT), Cingular, the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier, had kept its USD 14 a share offer unchanged, sources said. Cingular "is done (bidding) at USD 14. The bid is already USD 38 billion. How much higher can you go without being reckless?" one source said. Both suitors submitted formal offers for AT&T Wireless on Friday. The board of Redmond, Washington-based AT&T Wireless on Sunday asked them to revamp their offers and weighed those sweetened proposals at an all-day meeting on Monday. Vodafone was expected to submit an even richer proposal late on Monday night, the sources said. AT&T Wireless, Vodafone and Cingular declined to comment. A USD 14.50 offer would mark a 23-percent premium to AT&T Wireless's closing stock price of USD 11.82 on Friday. U.S. financial markets were closed on Monday for the President's Day holiday. Shares of AT&T Wireless have surged 38 percent over the past month as investors' enthusiasm over a potential takeover overshadowed the company's unexpected fourth-quarter loss. AT&T Wireless also has warned that technical and customer-service problems would lead to drop in customers throughout the first half of 2004. Bureau Report