T-Mobile USA will acquire 10 MHz of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum from U.S. Cellular for $308 million in cash. The deal requires FCC and DOJ clearance.
The spectrum covers 32 million POPs in the Mississippi Valley region, notably St. Louis; Nashville; Kansas City; Memphis; Lexington; Little Rock-North Little Rock; Birmingham; New Orleans; and Louisville.
T-Mobile said the additional spectrum will allow for an incremental roll-out of LTE in new markets and expand the existing 4G LTE bandwidth in the important Mississippi Valley region.
“In today’s marketplace, spectrum is gold,” said John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile. “This is a rare opportunity to secure precious AWS spectrum in key markets that will immediately be put to use by both T-Mobile and MetroPCS customers. This deal expands our network and capacity, allowing for a broader roll-out of 4G LTE and an even faster and more reliable 4G experience for our customers – in addition to spurring competition in the wireless marketplace.”
http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1833844&highlight=
- Earlier this month, T-Mobile reported that the migration of MetroPCS customers onto its network was ahead of schedule and moving smoothly. The company is making HSPA+ and LTE compatible devices available to MetroPCS customers as well as allowing them to bring their own unlocked compatible HSPA+ or LTE phone. The full migration is expected to be complete by then of 2015.