ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. entered into a definitive agreement with Sunshine PCS Corp. to acquire portions of three PCS licenses in Florida for $13.75 million.
The deal calls for Cingular to obtain 15 megahertz of spectrum in the Tallahassee, Panama City and Ocala markets, where the carrier noted it already has voice and data operations. The sale needs Federal Communications Commission authorization and approval from Sunshine PCS shareholders.
The partial C-Block licenses, which Sunshine PCS shares with AT&T Wireless Services Inc., will bolster Cingular’s current 10-megahertz E-Block license holdings in each of the markets.
In connection with the sale, Sunshine PCS said it has reached an agreement with Lynch Interactive Corp., which owns all of the outstanding shares of Sunshine PCS’ three series of preferred stock, to acquire those shares for approximately $7.2 million. In addition, Sunshine PCS reached an agreement to acquire its more than 3 million class B common stock for 20 cents per share.
Cingular’s acquisition comes weeks after the carrier announced a $1.4 billion bid for 34 PCS licenses from NextWave Telecom Inc. covering more than 80 million potential customers. The licenses were mostly in markets where Cingular already offers voice and data services.
Analysts noted the NextWave deal hinted at Cingular’s plans to bulk up its network offering, which is currently in the midst of a TDMA-to-GSM/GPRS overlay, ahead of the expected implementation of wireless local number portability later this year.
