US telco AT&T announced today that it has agreed to acquire spectrum licences in the lower 700 MHz spectrum from US chipmaker Qualcomm for over US$1.9bn.
In a statement, AT&T said that the spectrum available would cover more than 300 million people in…
US telco AT&T announced today that it has agreed to acquire spectrum licences in the lower 700 MHz spectrum from US chipmaker Qualcomm for over US$1.9bn.
In a statement, AT&T said that the spectrum available would cover more than 300 million people in the US. 12 MHz of Lower 700MHz D and E block would cover more than 70 million people in five of the US’s major cities: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. In addition, 6 MHz of Lower 700MHz D block spectrum would cover over 230 million people in the rest of the US.
Qualcomm uses these licences to support its subsidiary, the mobile TV service provider Flo TV. Qualcomm now expects for Flo TV to close in March 2011.
The transaction is still subject to approval from regulators. AT&T and Qualcomm expect it to be completed during the second half of 2011.
AT&T said that it intended to use this spectrum as “supplemental downlink”, which should increase the capacity for users to download data-heavy media content.
It said: “This technology is designed to deliver substantial capacity gains and is expected to be enabled with the completion of 3GPP Release 10. AT&T expects to begin deploying this spectrum once compatible handsets and network equipment are developed.”
