Part of the $4 billion breakup deal that was activated when the AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile fell through was that T-Mobile would receive a chunk of AWS wireless spectrum from AT&T. That spectrum transfer is now free to proceed as the FCC has given its approval.
The spectrum is valued at approximately $1 billion and covers 128 markets around the country, although most appear to be in the central and western parts of the US. There are only a few areas on the east coast that will see improvement including the Boston area, central/western New York (around Syracuse and Buffalo), the Maryland/DC area, as well as a small spot in central Georgia and around Jacksonville, FL.
All of the areas covered in the deal are highlighted in the nifty map to the right, which was made by GigaOM reader Anthony Shepherd. T-Mobile has said that it will use this new spectrum to help push forward with plans to build out an LTE network, which it wants to launch by next year.
