AT&T will buy mobile spectrum in the 700MHz band from Verizon Communications for $1.9 billion, AT&T said Friday.
AT&T will pay cash and trade AWS (advanced wireless services) spectrum for the B block of the 700MHz spectrum, the company said. Verizon will gain AWS spectrum licenses in several markets, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon, AT&T said in a press release.
In April, Verizon pledged to sell off two 12MHz blocks of mobile spectrum in the 700MHz band, including the B block, if U.S. regulators approved its purchase of spectrum from a group of cable providers.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved Verizon's purchase of the cable spectrum in August.
Verizon purchased the 700MHz spectrum in a 2008 FCC auction. AT&T was also a major purchaser of B block licenses.
The 700 MHz licenses to be acquired by AT&T cover 42 million people in 18 states, including California, Florida, New York and Virginia.
The deal complements AT&T's existing holdings in the B block, the company said in a press release. The new spectrum will help the company deploy 4G LTE services and meet mobile broadband demand from smartphones and tablets, it added.
In conjunction with the transaction, AT&T will sell a single AWS license to Grain Management, a wireless private equity firm, and will lease 700 MHz spectrum from Grain Management in three markets.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. AT&T said it anticipates closing the transaction in the second half of 2013.
