T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have petitioned the FCC for permission to swap AWS and PCS spectrum licenses in 92 counties and/or 41 Cellular Market Areas around the country.
The companies propose to switch spectrum licenses, but not cellular assets or customers. If approved, the change would not increase the total spectrum holdings of either company, but “would allow each to hold larger blocks of contiguous spectrum and/or align spectrum blocks with those already held in adjacent markets.” T-Mobile and Verizon claim the swap would allow each to add capacity and improve data speeds in the counties and markets involved.
According to T-Mobile and Verizon, T-Mobile would hold 30 to 102MHz of spectrum in total, and Verizon Wireless would hold 52 to 127MHz of spectrum in total once the transaction is completed.
The FCC has accepted the preliminary applications and is now seeking comments on the idea.
