Sprint Announces Plans to Buy US Cellular Customers and Spectrum for $480 Million

[dgstorm]

A deal has been struck between Sprint and US Cellular in which Sprint will acquire more spectrum and 10% of US Cellular's customers. Sprint will also need to take on some of US Cellular's “liabilities” although the specifics of that were not reported. Here is a quote with some of the details of the deal,

The arrangement will help Sprint bolster its own network as it rolls out LTE nationally, the company said in a press release, helping to beef up network capacity. U.S. Cellular customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, 585,000 in total, will also become Sprint customers as part of the deal.

Sprint gets 20 MHz of PCS spectrum in the 1900 MHz band in a number of locales, and 10 MHz of PCS spectrum in the St. Louis market in exchange for its lump sum in addition to the subscribers. U.S. Cellular will continue to operate in its other existing markets once the deal goes through, which should happen sometime in the middle of next year, so long as government regulatory bodies including the Department of Justice and the FCC sign off on the deal.

For U.S. Cellular, the subscribers it’s giving up represent around 10 percent of its overall user base. For Sprint, the addition will help add to the 410,000 net subscriber additions they posted during their Q3 financial results.

Overall, this move is likely to make Sprint even stronger for the likely buyout by Softbank, and will also help strengthen Sprint's network expansion in the future.

As an interesting sidenote: a separate report suggests that Sprint plans to drop the Nextel name after the Softbank deal goes through.

Source: TechCrunch

 

[geoff5093]

It will also help improve US Cellular's coverage in the areas where it excels, mainly in the northeast.

 

[droidbionicmaster]

I hope this means us cellular is going away i can't stand the

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[geoff5093]

I hope this means us cellular is going away i can't stand the

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Why? I was able to get a plan for 450 minutes, unlimited text, and 2GB of data for about $59 per month before tax.

 

[droidbionicmaster]

Why? I was able to get a plan for 450 minutes, unlimited text, and 2GB of data for about $59 per month before tax.

Where I live back years ago I had a blackberry pearl before Android was on every network. When Verizon had 3g the had 1g coverage and with them your roaming every where you go..plus they have a very small 4g network. Selection of phones are awful. Plus very horrible customer service. When i walk in their since my fiance has them they bash Verizon. All i need to say when i go in is wow i got 4g or wow I'm not roaming that shuts them up. She is has Verizon as well she dropping us cellular like a bad habit. Ranting all done sorry =]

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[geoff5093]

Where I live back years ago I had a blackberry pearl before Android was on every network. When Verizon had 3g the had 1g coverage and with them your roaming every where you go..plus they have a very small 4g network. Selection of phones are awful. Plus very horrible customer service. When i walk in their since my fiance has them they bash Verizon. All i need to say when i go in is wow i got 4g or wow I'm not roaming that shuts them up. She is has Verizon as well she dropping us cellular like a bad habit. Ranting all done sorry =]

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I agree that in the past US Cellular was horrible, they had 1x in most places and outside of a couple states you were roaming, and their phone selection was horrible. Fast forward to today though and they have 3G nationwide, even when roaming you now roam on 3G. Download speeds are similar to Verizon where I get around 0.75-1.5Mbps down, and they have added 4G LTE to most of their markets, so for me in New Hampshire they gave more LTE coverage than anyone else. Download speeds are fair, around 10-15Mbps down. Now that Samsung has partnered with them though, they got the GS3 and Note 2 the same time, or earlier than the other major carriers, and that trend should continue.

 

[jseah]

Why? I was able to get a plan for 450 minutes, unlimited text, and 2GB of data for about $59 per month before tax.

FWIW, I have 5 lines with Verizon, sharing 1400 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data and the average cost for each line comes to $42 per month after tax.

 

[droidbionicmaster]

I agree that in the past US Cellular was horrible, they had 1x in most places and outside of a couple states you were roaming, and their phone selection was horrible. Fast forward to today though and they have 3G nationwide, even when roaming you now roam on 3G. Download speeds are similar to Verizon where I get around 0.75-1.5Mbps down, and they have added 4G LTE to most of their markets, so for me in New Hampshire they gave more LTE coverage than anyone else. Download speeds are fair, around 10-15Mbps down. Now that Samsung has partnered with them though, they got the GS3 and Note 2 the same time, or earlier than the other major carriers, and that trend should continue.

I live in new Hampshire as well Verizon's 4g network will be bigger then us celluar in a few months here since tilton and up from that will have 4g by December

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[geoff5093]

FWIW, I have 5 lines with Verizon, sharing 1400 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data and the average cost for each line comes to $42 per month after tax.

Congratulations, but that's not the same comparison. You also get a discount having multiple people on a family plan with US Cellular, not to mention you can't get subsidized pricing.

I live in new Hampshire as well Verizon's 4g network will be bigger then us celluar in a few months here since tilton and up from that will have 4g by December

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Verizon's LTE network is superior, definitely, and with their recent announcement of having LTE everywhere they have 3G now by the end of 2013 there won't be any competition around here. I didn't hear about them getting LTE there in December, I heard that they were activating towers in the Keene, Lebanon, New London areas (basically Keene and along I-89).

 

[jackiescivic]

It will also help improve US Cellular's coverage in the areas where it excels, mainly in the northeast.

Us Cellular is quite popular here in WI too

 

[droidbionicmaster]

Franklin is by new London and new London has had 4g all summer i hit 4g their in august

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[geoff5093]

Franklin is by new London and new London has had 4g all summer i hit 4g their in august

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I wouldn't say it's right by New London, Andover is in between, but since it's so close to 93 it should be pretty soon. I noticed that Verizon tends to make their LTE live a while before they officially announce that it's available, but I haven't been up there in a while.

 

[droidbionicmaster]

Yea andover has no 4g. Just new London and wear has 4g

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[geoff5093]

I drove up into Franklin yesterday, US Cellular had excellent 4G service while Verizon had 1-2 bars of 3G.

 

[droidbionicmaster]

I drove up into Franklin yesterday, US Cellular had excellent 4G service while Verizon had 1-2 bars of 3G.

Yea Verizon's service is not so great in Franklin in the west side of town but other parts of town are great. With the 4g i think the signal will be better since 4g is a stronger signal

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