ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Sprint PCS and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. are looking at swapping a handful of spectrum licenses in Louisiana and Florida, according to a report from Raymond James & Associates.
The report, which sites documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, notes Sprint PCS will be giving VoiceStream 10 megahertz of PCS spectrum in New Orleans, Ft. Pierce and Ft. Myers, Fla., covering 2.5 million potential customers in exchange for 10 megahertz of PCS spectrum in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville and Sarasota, Fla., covering nearly 3 million pops.
If approved, the deal will leave Sprint PCS with 20 megahertz of spectrum in the markets where it is giving up spectrum and will give it 20 megahertz of total spectrum in the markets in which it is getting spectrum. For VoiceStream, the carrier will be left with between 20 and 30 megahertz in the markets where it is giving up spectrum and between 10 and 25 megahertz in the markets it is getting spectrum in.
Raymond James noted in the report the spectrum swap underlines its assertion that carriers servicing cities with more than 100,000 pops need at least 20 megahertz of spectrum to offer next-generation services.
