The Federal Communications Commission just gave the final approval for Verizon Wireless to purchase the biggest hunk of spectrum outside of a full company merger in U.S. history. So what's it all mean?
In December, Verizon proposed buying 20 MHz of wireless spectrum from a consortium of cable operators known as SpectrumCo, which included Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Communications. It also struck a separate but similar deal to buy spectrum from cable operator Cox Communications.
The deal was controversial for two main reasons. First, it would have allowed Verizon to effectively double its spectrum holdings in the AWS-1 block. Many feared this would give Verizon too much control of a scarce resource at a time when other wireless operators without as strong a spectrum position also need access airwaves to deploy competing 4G services.
The second issue many consumer advocates had with the deal concerned a commercial arrangement that would allow cable operators to resell and market Verizon Wireless services and also allow Verizon to resell and market cable service. This concerned regulators and consumer advocates because it might kill competition in the wired broadband market.
After working closely with regulators, Verizon struck a deal with T-Mobile to sell it some spectrum, alleviating those concerns. An... [Read more]
via CNET http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/NnTv/~3/KSWSSdnnbSk/
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