T-Mobile US Plans to Buy Part of UScellular

T-Mobile US conducted discussions to buy a piece of UScellular. If this scenario happens, the operator would get access to valuable spectrum.

The Wall Street Journal reported that T-Mobile, the US’ second largest operator, is willing to pay over $2 billion for some of UScellular’s assets in a deal that could close this month. The boards of both UScellular and majority shareholder Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) announced in August 2023 that they are considering the partial sale of some of the mobile operator’s assets.

It is the fourth-largest mobile operator in the US with mobile services across 21 US states. As of Q2, UScellular has 4.5 million wireless subscribers. The company also operates 4,500 cell towers across 19 states in its footprint, but those assets are likely less valuable to T-Mobile than its spectrum. In June 2023, the operator announced the launch of its 5G mid-band network using the 3.45GHz spectrum it won in an auction in 2021.

UScellular President and CEO Laurent Therivel stated on the Q2 earnings call it expects to have mid-band on cell sites that handle almost 50% of its data traffic by year-end. He also noted it is seeing higher net promotor scores in the areas where it has been deployed.