AT&T & T-Mobile File FCC Applications for $1 Billion Dollar Spectrum Transfer

[dgstorm]

It looks like AT&T and T-Mobile are working quickly to clean up, move on and forget the fiasco of their failed merger. They both applied to the FCC for permission to transfer $1 Billion dollars worth of AWS Spectrum from AT&T to T-Mobile as part of the "break-up" settlement from the failed acquisition. There is no word yet on whether AT&T has already paid the other $3 Billion to T-Mobile, and implemented the seven-year 3G roaming agreement, which was the rest of the break-up fee.

While it seems on the surface that T-Mobile made out like bandits and AT&T got royally victimized, the reality is that even with the large influx of cash and the extra spectrum, T-Mobile is back to square one being the bottom of the four big carriers, with very little real way to compete. In the end, however, it was very likely a good thing for consumers that this happened, and will keep things a bit more balanced, at least for the foreseeable future.

Interesting factoid just for perspective: If you had $1 Billion dollars, you could spend $100,000 dollars per day, and it would still take you over 27 years to spend it all!

Source: TheVerge
Picture Source: KnowYourCell