Dobson Purchases Endless Mountains Wireless, in Northern Pennsylvania

[jones]

Dobson Communications Purchases Endless Mountains Wireless, LLC Assets in Northern Pennsylvania
Wednesday September 14, 10:37 am ET


OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 14, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dobson Communications Corporation (NasdaqNM:DCEL - News) through its operating subsidiary, American Cellular Corporation, announced today that it has acquired the non-license wireless assets of Endless Mountains Wireless, LLC in Pennsylvania 4 Rural Service Area (RSA).
Dobson will operate the acquired spectrum under a spectrum manager lease for Endless Mountains' licensed 850 MHz spectrum. In March 2006, Dobson will have the right to acquire Endless Mountains' 850 MHz license for Pennsylvania 4 RSA, subject to FCC approval at the time of acquisition. If exercised, Dobson's acquisition of the license covering the leased spectrum is expected to close in mid-to-late 2006. The total purchase price for all acquired assets, including the FCC license, is $12.2 million.

Pennsylvania 4 RSA encompasses a population (POPs) of approximately 98,000, all of which are incremental to Dobson's current service area in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania 4 RSA includes the cities of Sayre and Tunkhannock, which are northwest of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. Dobson already serves the Erie and Sharon MSAs and all or part of the Pennsylvania 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 and 10 RSAs.

Endless Mountains currently provides GSM wireless service to less than 1,000 subscribers. Dobson plans to upgrade the network with GPRS/EDGE data capability, consistent with its network elsewhere in the United States. The Company will offer products and services in the new market under the Cellular One(r) brand.

Dobson Communications is a leading provider of wireless phone services to rural markets in the United States. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the Company owns wireless operations in 16 states, with markets covering a population of 11.9 million. The Company serves approximately 1.6 million customers. For additional information on the Company and its operations, please visit its Web site at http://www.dobson.net

[bobolito]

So, when are they going to buy Sussex Cellular?!!

[roamer1]

Originally Posted by bobolito So, when are they going to buy Sussex Cellular?!!

I still believe that Dobson isn't really interested in the vacated license and that Cingular will get it.

As for EMW, note that Dobson is buying everything except EMW's license right now; until and unless Dobson buys the license after March, they will basically just lease spectrum from EMW. Dobsn certainly has a lot to bring to the table: economy of scale, a stronger product line (particularly on the data/content side of things), better roaming agreements, and operating the market under the more recognizable CellOne brand. EMW was GSM-only from day one, as they started operations only a couple of years ago, so there are no legacy AMPS/TDMA customers to deal with. That tiny sub count doesn't surprise me given the rural nature of the market and how entrenched VZW is in the rural parts of PA...I suspect that Dobson will help take more market share away from VZW.

-SC

[bobolito]

I noticed Dobson already has EDGE. They are ahead of T-Mobile.

[agentHibby]

Wonder if Indigo Wireless is next for Dobson to buy??
I wonder if Dobson would want the network in NE??