Verizon Wireless said Wednesday it had closed its purchase of a regional wireless provider in northeast Pennsylvania from U.S. Cellular.
The acquisition includes a spectrum license covering 114,000 people and operations in Wayne and Pike counties, which include major traffic corridors, including Interstate 84 and State Highways 6 and 402. The region serves the Poconos, a popular destination for nearby travelers from the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.
“We look forward to expanding our brand presence and network coverage in northeast Pennsylvania,” said Mario Turco, president of Verizon Wireless’ Philadelphia tri-state region.
Financial terms of the transaction were not announced.
Verizon said it plans to operate the Cellular One brand as-is for the next several months as it converts the carrier’s network to its own specifications. Cellular One customers will not see any immediate changes to their calling plans, devices or service.
The operators did not specify which spectrum bands were covered by Cellular One’s license, but a search of the FCC’s spectrum dashboard shows that U.S. Cellular owns 800 MHz spectrum in Wayne and Pike counties. There were no licenses in either region attributed to Cellular One.
The FCC’s database shows that Verizon Wireless holds 700 MHz, AWS and broadband PCS spectrum in Wayne and Pike counties. It currently offers 3G service in the area, but its coverage map shows it has not yet launched LTE in either county.
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