AT&T buying Sprint WCS Spectrum Licenses

Spectrum is always a hot commodity for carriers to pursue. AT&T has recently grown more aggressive as they have purchased all of Sprint’s 19 2.3 GHz WCS licenses in areas such as Texas, Florida, and Alabama. The importance of gaining more spectrums is likely linked to AT&T’s venture into in-flight Wi-Fi. Although this has not been confirmed, making these acquisitions of spectrum would only reinforce the notion that these will be dedicated to airplane Wi-Fi. AT&T would still need the approval of the FCC and FAA for an in-flight connection service. The further benefits of increased spectrum could also allow AT&T to use its growing portfolio to bolster the capacity of its LTE network, which currently runs across its 700 MHz and AWS spectrum. It would acquire as much as 165 MHz of spectrum in some of the markets which would put them over the FCC's spectrum screen. In addition, AT&T is diversifying their acquisitions of spectrum on the secondary market as well as directly through FCC auctions. The carrier has purchased AWS, WCS and 700 MHz licenses from a variety of smaller companies in the past few years and plan on participating auctions for AWS-3 and 600 MHz spectrum by the FCC. As far as WCS spectrum, AT&T has made a similar acquisition in the past with NextWave Wireless for $600 million. Meanwhile, the move for Sprint does not come with much shock as they have geared their focus toward LTE network rollout on its 800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum. The amount of spectrum that carriers accumulate has become a bit of a chess game as the strategy of where to load up is constantly developing. Launch 3 Telecom can provide equipment used by AT&T and Sprint to improve their networks. If you are interested in Antennas, RET Cables, or other equipment used in a cell tower build, contact Launch 3 Telecom at 877-878-9134 or email sales@launch3.net.
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