AT&T has officially submitted to the FCC a request for approval to transfer $1 billion worth of spectrum to T-Mobile USA.
The transfer is part of AT&T’s agreement in its failed $39 billion bid to acquire T-Mobile. AT&T is also required to pay T-Mobile $3 billion in cash for the failed deal.
Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile’s senior vice president for government affairs, told The Wall Street Journal that the additional spectrum will help T-Mobile meet growing data demand.
“We hope the FCC will move swiftly to approve the license assignments,” Sugrue said.
At an investor conference earlier this month, AT&T’s president and CEO of the carrier’s business solutions unit, John Stankey, said it was unfortunate the deal to acquire T-Mobile failed but added that the carrier had “no second guesses” about having attempted the merger.
Stankey placed much of the blame for the failed deal on decisions made by the regulatory agencies.
“We gave it our best shot, pushed as hard as we could, and it became apparent to us that there were two agencies that were opposed to the idea,” Stankey said, adding that AT&T felt those agencies did things “different than how it’s been done in the past” with respect to the T-Mobile deal.
Filed Under: Industry regulations + certifications