Following AT&T’s failed attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion, AT&T had to pay a lofty break-up fee as per the terms of its agreement. AT&T’s related expenses totaled $4 billion, and included in that sum was the transfer of AWS spectrum licenses to T-Mobile in 128 different markets. On Wednesday, T-Mobile announced that the Federal Communications Commission has approved the transfer. ”We applaud the FCC for acting swiftly to approve the transfer o...

Verizon Wireless is planning to conduct an open sale of all of its 700 MHz A and B spectrum licenses in an effort to rationalize its spectrum holdings. The carrier obtained the 700 MHz A and B licenses — as well as a nationwide 700 MHz upper C license, which is currently used for its 4G LTE service — in an auction through the Federal Communication Commission. Verizon is in the midst of acquiring additional Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licenses that it plans to use in conjunction with its 7...

T-Mobile is urging federal regulators to block Verizon’s planned spectrum acquisition from SpectrumCo, a joint venture formed by Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks. Verizon’s pending purchase could be worth $3.9 billion and would help the company build out its nationwide LTE network. In a filing late Tuesday, T-Mobile said the Federal Communications Commission should block the deal because it would place an “excessive concentration” of wireless spectrum in Verizon’...

T-Mobile and AT&T have filed with the Federal Communications Commission to transfer $1 billion worth of AT&T’s AWS spectrum into T-Mobile USA’s ownership. AT&T previously promised the spectrum to Deutsche Telekom in the event that its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA failed. “This additional spectrum will help meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services,” Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile’s senior vice president for government affairs, told The Wall Street Journal. “We hop...

The BlackBerry Curve 9370 and the LG Spectrum are now available from Verizon Wireless. The LG Spectrum was unveiled during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. It runs Android Gingerbread, has a sharp 4.5-inch True HD IPS display, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p video and support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The Spectrum is priced at $199.99 with a new two-year Verizon contract. Also joining Verizon’s smartphone lineup on Thursday is...

Two of Verizon’s newly announced 4G LTE smartphones have unannounced global roaming capabilities, however they will not be usuable at launch. The Motorola DROID 4 and LG Spectrum, which were both announced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, both contain GSM and CDMA radios for data usage overseas. However, due to upcoming network enhancements, both devices will soon be able to take advantage of their global capabilities. “The LTE phones work globally in over 40 countries that current...

LG’s press conference in Las Vegas just wrapped up and we quickly stormed the stage to grab you a few photos of Verizon’s latest smartphone, the LG Spectrum. The Spectrum runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) but Verizon promises that it will upgrade the device to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) in the future. It offers a 4.5-inch true HD IPS display — it looks amazing up close — an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p HD video and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It also supports Verizon̵...

Last summer, LG and Verizon Wireless released the Revolution, but the phone did little to revolutionize smartphones and after seven months it was chopped from the carrier’s lineup. According to Droid-Life, the follow-up to the Revolution is the LG Spectrum and it is heading to Verizon on January 19th. The Spectrum features superb specs with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, 1GB RAM, 4G LTE connectivity and a massive 4.5-inch HD display at 329ppi. Additionally, the device sports an 8-megapix...

Following the FCC’s approval last week, AT&T announced Tuesday that it has finalized its acquisition of Qualcomm’s 700MHz spectrum licenses. The spectrum, which was previously used for Qualcomm’s FLO TV product, covers more than 300 million United States residents. AT&T said it paid Qualcomm approximately $1.9 billion in the deal. “This spectrum will help AT&T continue to deliver a world-class mobile broadband experience to our customers,” said AT&T SVP-Federal Regula...

Now that its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion has been put to bed by strong opposition, AT&T has to look elsewhere in an effort to find spectrum that will accommodate the carrier’s ever-growing subscriber base while it transitions to LTE. The carrier is clearly facing an uphill battle but it took a sizable step forward on Thursday evening when the Federal Communications Commission granted approval to AT&T’s proposed acquisition of 700MHz spectrum licenses from Qualcomm. ”...

LightSquared on Tuesday issued a letter to the Federal Communications Commission ostensibly demanding approval to build out its 4G LTE network. LightSquared executive vice president of regulatory affairs and public policy Jeff Carlisle argued that the GPS industry has had almost 10 years to address issues that cause GPS satellite signals to partially transmit on spectrum that LightSquared has licensed. The letter was written in response to an announcement earlier this week from federal officials, stating ...

AT&T is in such need of spectrum following the collapse of its planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA, that one analyst thinks the carrier may soon seek to acquire Dish Network. “Dish and AT&T aren’t direct competitors, and at the end of the day, the government wants to see spectrum used,” Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Christopher King told Bloomberg Tuesday. “It’s highly unlikely regulators would block two AT&T deals in row,” he added, noting that AT&T is “desper...

The antitrust division of the United States Justice Department will investigate Verizon Wireless’s plans to acquire spectrum from Comcast and its partners for $3.6 billion. Verizon Wireless announced in early December its intentions to purchase 122 AWS spectrum licenses from SpectrumCo, a joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. The carrier said it plans to use the additional spectrum to build out its 4G LTE network, pending government approval of the purchase. The Jus...

Deutsche Telekom recently detailed the breakup terms AT&T agreed to following the deterioration of its planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA. Deutsche Telekom will receive $3 billion in cash and T-Mobile USA will benefit from fresh AWS spectrum as well as a new 7-year 3G roaming deal with AT&T. “As part of the break-up fee, T-Mobile USA will receive a large package of AWS mobile spectrum in 128 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), including 12 of the top 20 markets (Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta,...