Verizon Wireless said Wednesday it had
closed its purchase of a regional wireless provider in northeast Pennsylvania
from U.S. Cellular.
The acquisition includes a spectrum
license covering 114,000 people and operations in Wayne and Pike counties,
which include major traffic corridors including Interstate 84 and State
Highways 6 and 402. The region serves the Poconos, a popular destination for
nearby travelers from the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan
areas.
“We look forward to expanding our
brand presence and network coverage in northeast Pennsylvania,” said Mario
Turco, president of Verizon Wireless’ Philadelphia tri-state region, in a
statement.
Financial terms of the transaction were
not announced.
Verizon said it plans to operate the
Cellular One brand as-is for the next several months as it converts the
carrier’s network to its own specifications. Cellular One customers will not
see any immediate changes to their calling plans, devices or service.
The operators did not specify which
spectrum bands were covered by Cellular One’s license, but a search of the
FCC’s spectrum dashboard shows that U.S. Cellular owns 800 MHz spectrum in
Wayne and Pike counties. There were no licenses in either region attributed to
Cellular One.
The FCC’s database shows that Verizon
Wireless holds 700 MHz, AWS and broadband PCS spectrum in Wayne and Pike
counties. It currently offers 3G service in the area but its coverage map shows
it has not yet launched LTE in either county.