UScellular has confirmed that it will sell a portion of its spectrum assets to AT&T for $1 billion. This deal will see T-Mobile acquire a significant chunk of UScellular's operations, including its customer base and around 30 percent of the company's wireless spectrum.
"We are pleased with the significant value that will be realized in the various transactions recently announced," said Laurent C. Therivel, president and CEO. "This agreement adds a fourth mobile network operator, in addition to T-Mobile, to the list of those whose subscribers will benefit from the sale of our spectrum licenses. As with the other mobile network operators, we are confident that AT&T can put it to productive use in communities throughout the US Furthermore, the terms of the agreement will ensure that there will be continued, uninterrupted service for UScellular customers in the interim."
"Second, there is a substantial 5G ecosystem of equipment vendors and existing infrastructure that uses C-band. Finally, they have a lengthy build-out timeline, with first and second build-out dates of 2029 and 2033, respectively. This provides ample time and optionality for us to either monetize or deploy the spectrum in the future. We will continue to look for ways to opportunistically monetize the C-band, as well as the other remaining spectrum."
