Summary
- T-Mobile is selling off spectrum it acquired from Sprint.
- The 800MHz spectrum was supposed to go to Dish Network, but the brand failed to come up with the money.
- Now the spectrum is being sold off to Grain Management in exchange for cash and 600MHz spectrum licenses.
It’s hard to believe sometimes that T-Mobile was an underdog about ten years ago, with AT&T and Verizon having very little to worry about in terms of competition. Now, T-Mobile is the best wireless carrier in the US, offering impressive promotions, excellent service, and reliable coverage.
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It might be time to make some changes
While the Un-carrier movement was a huge part of this success, it also has to do with the fact that the wireless carrier was allowed to purchase Sprint, and add its customers and network to its own portfolio. And while the original part of that plan required the brand to sell off Sprint’s 800Mhz spectrum, it was unable to find a buyer after Dish Network failed to come up with the payment.
More changes at T-Mobile
With that said, it looks like T-Mobile is finally selling off its 800Mhz spectrum to Grain Management, a private equity firm. In addition to cash, Grain will provide the firm’s entire 600MHz spectrum licenses. The wireless carrier shared that “This deal would give T-Mobile the opportunity to work with key partners like Grain that share our vision to optimize spectrum for consumers.”
Of course, much like any deal of this magnitude, it will need to be approved by regulatory bodies, and it’s unclear when all of this will be finalized. T-Mobile has been making strides to expand its network as of late. Perhaps its biggest push has been with its satellite service in partnership with Starlink. This service has been slowly rolling out to more phones over the past few months.
For the most part, T-Mobile has been pretty solid. But all of this expansion hasn’t been great for the brand, with the wireless carrier having to deal with several different policy changes that have received backlash from customers. The brand has also implemented price increases that have caused an uproar as well.
More recently, there have been reports of shady sales tactics as well, leading T-Mobile to become quite the villain in many consumers’ eyes. But hey, at least there are some silver linings here with T-Mobile still offering free subscriptions to MLS Season Pass and MLB TV, right?
