US telecoms regulator FCC has put its review of Verizon Wireless’ US$3.9bn acquisitions of AWS spectrum from JV SpectrumCo and Cox Communications on hold. The regulator’s decision follows a spectrum swap and sale struck Monday by Verizon with…
US telecoms regulator FCC has put its review of Verizon Wireless’ US$3.9bn acquisitions of AWS spectrum from JV SpectrumCo and Cox Communications on hold. The regulator’s decision follows a spectrum swap and sale struck Monday by Verizon with T-Mobile USA.
47 of the licences that Verizon either sold to or exchanged with T-Mobile USA are either part of Verizon’s US$3.9bn deals currently under review, or from a smaller agreement with Leap Wireless that is also awaiting regulatory approval.
Verizon’s deal with T-Mobile is therefore contingent on its AWS purchase from cablecos being approved.
The FCC has said that as Verizon’s agreement with T-Mobile is expressly linked to its US$3.9bn deal under review, it is halting its 180-day review for 14 days. This will allow interested parties to comment on the impact of the T-Mobile deal, which changes the complexion of the review.
T-Mobile previously filed a complaint to the FCC regarding Verizon’s AWS purchases. In February it asked the regulator to block the deals.
“The principal impact of the acquisition would be to foreclose the possibility that this spectrum could be acquired by smaller competitors – such as T-Mobile – who would use it more quickly, more intensively and more efficiently than Verizon Wireless,” said T-Mobile at the time.
After the agreement to acquire AWS was struck with Verizon, T-Mobile withdrew its complaint to the FCC.
The FCC is reportedly keen on the agreement struck between Verizon and T-Mobile. The Washington Post said, with reference to people familiar with the thinking of government officials, that the deal increases the chance of Verizon’s AWS purchase from cablecos going through.
The FCC’s review into Verizon’s US$3.9bn deals will restart on 10 July 2012, which will be day 138 of the 180-day investigation.
