Paul Allen flogs radio licence
PrintSurely he doesn't need the money?
Posted in Wireless, 18th September 2009 07:30 GMT
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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has sold off most of the 700MHz he owns through Vulcan Spectrum, putting more of the US digital dividend into AT&T's hands.
No one is saying how much the deal was worth, but the money is probably much needed by Mr. Allen following the bankruptcy of Charter Communications, which he controlled, and AT&T will be pleased to extend their holdings in Oregon and Washington.
The spectrum wasn't part of last year's 700MHz auction, but was bought by Vulcan Spectrum back in 2003, as Bloomberg reports. In last year's auction, Vulcan bought a couple of blocks of spectrum for $112.8m - capable of providing service in Portland and Seattle - but the company is hanging on to that for the moment.
Details of the deal are available in the FCC filing (pdf), which also explains (when addressing competition issues) that: "The proposed transaction will enable AT&T to achieve greater operational efficiencies and offer improved, more robust and advanced services to meet the needs of new and existing subscribers". ®
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