Clearwire completes 2.5 GHz spectrum acquisition

Clearwire Corp. completed its acquisition of 2.5 GHz spectrum from AT&T Inc.; the larger company had to divest itself of the spectrum as part of the requirements for the approval of its purchase of BellSouth Corp.
The 2.5 GHz spectrum was licensed to or leased by BellSouth and covers areas of the southeastern U.S.; the purchase cost Clearwire $300 million. The wireless broadband provider said that this and other pending spectrum purchases will bring its licensed potential customers to 223 million across the U.S. with varying depths of spectrum, along with covering nearly 200 million licensed pops in Europe.
Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Wash., said its current network coverage extends to about 9.4 million people in the U.S. and about 1.2 million pops in Ireland and Belgium.