AT&T Purchases Airwaves From Billionaire Paul Allen To Support 4G Roll Out

AT&T

AT&T (NYSE: T) has purchased the rights to some airwaves in Washington and Oregon from Paul Allen, the billionaire Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) co-founder. The sale was disclosed in government filings, but terms of the deal are unknown, reports Bloomberg.

Allen’s Seattle-based company, Vulcan Spectrum, initially acquired the spectrum in 2003. It’s unclear what Allen planned to use the 24 licenses for, but Michael Coe, an AT&T spokesman confirmed it was going to use the spectrum for the rollout of tis 4G network and to “meet the demand for mobile services in the Northwest.” The licenses are in the 700 mghtz frequency, which is the band Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) is also using for its 4G network.

Vulcan Spectrum continues to own licenses in the A-block, which it bought last year in an FCC auction. That swath, which covers the Seattle and Portland areas, was not included in the sale to AT&T.

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