According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T and T-Mobile jointly filed a request to the FTC asking for approval to transfer $1 billion in wireless spectrum from AT&T to T-Mobile. This comes as a result of the failed merger between the two companies, requiring AT&T to hand over $3 billion in cash and another $1 billion in spectrum as well as a seven year 3G roaming agreement to the magenta carrier.
Tom Surgue, Senior Vice President for T-Mobile’s government affairs was quoted saying the following:
This additional spectrum will help meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services. We hope the FCC will move swiftly to approve the license assignments.
T-Mobile is loosing customers at a substantial rate for a national carrier. The first nine months of last year showed nearly 850 thousand contract customer losses. This may have something to do with it being the only carrier with no next-generation wireless broadband rollout plan. T-Mobile needs the additional spectrum in order for it to remain competitive in this rapidly growing market. As of this writing, T-Mobile still has no future plans for this wireless expansion.
Everyone loves a good underdog story. We’re hoping T-Mobile can put these resources to good use.
