FCC Approves Transfer Of Spectrum From AT&T To T-Mobile
When the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile fell through, the breakup agreement included plans for AT&T to transfer AWS spectrum licenses to T-Mobile. This week, the FCC approved the transfer.
The spectrum transfer is important to T-Mobile: The wireless carrier plans to use the spectrum to launch LTE in 2013. The transfer gives T-Mobile AWS mobile spectrum in 128 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), including 12 of the top 20 markets.
“We applaud the FCC for acting swiftly to approve the transfer of these spectrum licenses,” said Neville Ray, chief technology officer, T-Mobile USA. “Securing this additional spectrum was a key catalyst for our plans to launch LTE in 2013 and is therefore good news for our customers.”
T-Mobile plans to invest $4 billion to improve existing voice and data coverage and plans to broadly deploy LTE in 2013. The wireless carrier has said it needs more AWS spectrum in order to support its 4G efforts and continued growth.
