T-Cellular US is rumored to be contemplating the acquisition of UScellular spectrum licenses for greater than $2 billion
T-Cellular US is in discussions to buy a bit of UScellular, a transfer that will give the telco entry to extra spectrum, in accordance with stories from The Wall Avenue Journal (WSJ). Additional rumors point out that T-Cellular US is contemplating parting with greater than $2 billion for these belongings and that the deal may shut as quickly as this month.
In August 2023, the boards of each UScellular and its majority shareholder Phone and Knowledge Techniques (TDS) revealed that they had been mulling the partial sale of its belongings. When this was introduced, analysts at New Avenue Analysis speculated that T-Cellular may go after UScellular’s 600MHz, PCS and AWS spectrum licenses and promote the spectrum that it’s not utilizing its community such because the 700MHz to different suppliers.
UScellular additionally operates 4,500 cell towers within the U.S.; nevertheless, it’s unlikely that T-Cellular is inquisitive about buying these infrastructure belongings.
Final June, UScellular launched its 5G mid-band community in 10 states throughout the nation. “We view mid-band because the candy spot of 5G as a result of it offers broad protection, low latency and quick speeds – enabling extra individuals to connect with what issues most at residence or on-the-go,” Mike Irizarry, government vice chairman and CTO at UScellular, mentioned on the time. “As we method serving 100,000 high-speed Web prospects later this summer season, mid-band will play an vital function in furthering the attain and enhancement of that product. We’ve made it a precedence to increase the know-how to extra communities within the coming years.” The provider’s 5G mid-band community is utilizing spectrum within the 3.45 GHz band that the corporate secured in 2022.
UScellular reported its most up-to-date quarterly outcomes this week. Its Mounted Wi-fi Entry enterprise continues to achieve momentum, with the corporate reporting that it added 124,000 FWA prospects through the first quarter, up 42% from the identical time final yr. General, the corporate reported blended outcomes in contrast the identical interval final yr: Service revenues had been down 2%, postpaid ARPU was up 3% to $51.96, and whereas its total working revenues had been additionally down from $986 million to $950 million year-over-year, its cut-cutting measures meant that internet revenue was up at $18 million for the quarter, in comparison with $13 million within the first quarter of 2023. Extra particulars from its Q1 are in this story.