What exactly is T-Mobile buying here?
T-Mobile’s 5G network, as you might have already been made aware of by its countless ads and promotional materials on the matter and our countless articles explaining the topic, is composed of three different layers. While the top layer is… not fully fleshed out at the moment, the middle and bottom layers are crucial for the network’s speed and coverage respectively.
By no means lacking in most areas across the nation, this low-band component is expected to get a big boost in a number of key markets with the help of the 600MHz spectrum that will be licensed from Comcast… if the FCC approves the proposed transaction. That means even better coverage could be in the pipeline for more than 100 million (theoretical) T-Mobile customers.
Where should you expect these network improvements to occur?
Now this is where things get interesting about the new partnership between T-Mobile and Comcast. The deal is actually a two-parter, which is why you’ll probably notice that its “total cash consideration” is listed at anywhere from $1.2 billion to $3.3 billion by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That means that T-Mobile will definitely cough up the lower amount for spectrum licenses covering “approximately” 39 million people in markets “including” (but presumably not limited to) New York, Orlando, Florida, and Kansas City, Missouri.
These are apparently all markets inside the cable giant’s current footprint, which means that Comcast hasn’t yet decided if it wants to build a mobile network of its own to rival T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T where it already offers cable or not.
So, yeah, this deal is pretty much just as complicated as you probably imagined, but if there’s one simple thing you can take away from it, it’s that T-Mobile remains as committed as ever to continuously improve and expand its 5G network across both urban and rural areas.
