The FCC has approved the transfer of some of US telco AT&T’s spectrum to smaller rival T-Mobile USA, which was the result of last year’s merger failure. T-Mobile USA said in a statement that the company had successfully acquired Advanced Wireless…
The FCC has approved the transfer of some of US telco AT&T’s spectrum to smaller rival T-Mobile USA, which was the result of last year’s merger failure.
T-Mobile USA said in a statement that the company had successfully acquired Advanced Wireless Systems (AWS) frequencies in 128 cellular market areas, including 12 in the top 20 sectors.
“Securing this additional spectrum was a key catalyst for our plans to launch LTE in 2013 and is therefore good news for our customers,” said Neville Ray, chief technology officer of T-Mobile USA.
The spectrum transfer was part of the breakup agreement after AT&T’s US$39bn plan to acquire the group collapsed late last year under regulator scrutiny.
However, the company also claimed it needed more AWS spectrum to cater for expected growth in mobile data services.
US mobile operator Verizon Wireless is seeking to acquire unused AWS spectrum bands that are currently held by local cable companies in a US$3.6bn deal. In return, the telco has also proposed selling some of its own frequencies in the 700MHz band to other operators, in a sale that would be managed by Stephens, Inc.
But T-Mobile USA has criticised Verizon’s plan to sell 700MHz spectrum as a tactical ploy. The company has claimed that the move is an attempt to foreclose competitors from being able to acquire AWS frequencies, which would be more immediately available for them to use.
