T-Mobile to Purchase 700 MHz Spectrum from Verizon for $3.3 Billion

T-Mobile has announced that they are purchasing 700 MHz spectrum licenses in Block A from Verizon this morning. They will be sending over $2.365 billion in cash and $950 million worth of AWS spectrum licenses in exchange for the much needed 700 MHz licenses. Lower frequency spectrum helps penetrate buildings better and has a greater coverage area than higher frequencies. These licenses give T-Mobile lower band coverage in 9 out of the top 10 markets in the US. These purchases still have to be approved by the FCC, so it will probably be a few months before we see these frequencies go live.

It’s worth noting that this block of spectrum is not compatible with either AT&T or Verizon’s 700MHz bands, nor do any current T-Mobile phones support it. The spectrum Verizon is selling is in the A block of the 700MHz spectrum, while AT&T and Verizon hold the B and C blocks respectively. The good news here is that by the time this ends up live in Q4 this year, we’ll all probably have new phones.

Source: Business Wire

Via: iMore