The big news from yesterday is that AT&T dropped the T-Mobile purchase deal, but did you know that T-Mobile’s parent company scored more than just the $3 billion settlement? As you can see in the Deutsche Telekom press release T-Mobile USA is getting additional AWS (that’s their 1700 MHz data frequency) spectrum and a long term UMTS roaming agreement.
The 1700 MHz (AWS) spectrum is used by T-Mobile for its HSPA+ data network and is unique to T-Mobile in the U.S. AT&T was hoping to use it with the purchase to expand their data network too. According to the press release, T-Mobile gains AWS spectrum from AT&T in 128 Cellular Market Areas, including 12 of the top 20 markets (Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Baltimore and Seattle). As a T-Mobile customer in the Seattle area this is great news for me.
The UMTS roaming agreement is for a period longer than seven years and will increase population coverage from 230 million potential customers to 280 million. There was no timing detailed on the additional spectrum or UMTS roaming agreement.
Thanks to PhoneScoop.com for the heads-up on the available press release.
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