VZW expanding in Jackson, MS

[jayc]

In a recent transaction, Verizon Wireless acquired 10 MHZ of PCS spectrum that will enable us to expand our network into portions of the Jackson, MS, market for the first time. The spectrum covers the counties of Copiah, Hinds, Madison and Rankin, which have a population of some 477,000. This new territory includes the state capital of Mississippi and is an important crossroads for interstates from Memphis to New Orleans and from Dallas to Atlanta. The acquisition was part of a transaction with AT&T Wireless.

[reevejf]

I was skeptical on that one but it seems AT&T has gotten rid of a A band PCS (former Tritel) license in MS. I think it may have been split between VZW and Unicel. I saw they werem entioned in the paperwork. It may still be in approval stage though. So we may not see that license used for a year or so. itll be nice i go that way alot now [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[vger]

What kind of volume of users will be able to use a 10MHz block of spectrum?

[agentHibby]

Be faster for Verizon to buy Cellular South than to build a network
It would not be until 2005 or 06 until they did have a network there.

[lordsutch]

Originally posted by: jayc
In a recent transaction, Verizon Wireless acquired 10 MHZ of PCS spectrum that will enable us to expand our network into portions of the Jackson, MS, market for the first time. The spectrum covers the counties of Copiah, Hinds, Madison and Rankin, which have a population of some 477,000. This new territory includes the state capital of Mississippi and is an important crossroads for interstates from Memphis to New Orleans and from Dallas to Atlanta. The acquisition was part of a transaction with AT&T Wireless.

In other words, they want to compete to get business from Nissan...

I agree it would probably be smarter in the long run for VZW to buy out Cellular South, especially considering that Sprint can't buy them without convoluted legal wrangling (due to non-compete agreements with US Unwired, who cover most of Mississippi--and US Unwired can't afford to buy Cellular South themselves) and Alltel won't acquire Cellular South just to add coverage in the northern half of the state and Memphis.

[Andy]

Originally posted by: jkehe
What kind of volume of users will be able to use a 10MHz block of spectrum?

That's a good question I'd like to know the answer to also. And someone else mentioned it might take Verizon 2 to 3 years to get a network set up...does it really take that long?

[larry39110]

Verizon buy out Cellular South? God how I wish they would!!!!!!!!!! I've been a loyal Cellular South customer for many years and have always been satisfied with the outstanding service they offer. But they just can't compete on a nationwide level. They just recently stopped offering nationwide plans! There was a rumor some time back that Cellular South was positioning itself for a Verizon take over. Some of the sales reps even said that they had heard the same thing. Now with Verizon's new little license and with Cellular South not offering their nationwide plans anymore, and they are not selling TDMA coverage anymore, I wonder if a take over might just be eminent. Oh how I wish!!!!!!!!!

[Rasputin]

I do hope they pickup Cellular South, it would be a good move for them.

[reevejf]

It would be a nice chunk of land for them to use. Not to mention the addition to the gulf coast area would be helpful.

[lordsutch]

Originally posted by: larry39110
Verizon buy out Cellular South? God how I wish they would!!!!!!!!!! I've been a loyal Cellular South customer for many years and have always been satisfied with the outstanding service they offer. But they just can't compete on a nationwide level. They just recently stopped offering nationwide plans! There was a rumor some time back that Cellular South was positioning itself for a Verizon take over. Some of the sales reps even said that they had heard the same thing. Now with Verizon's new little license and with Cellular South not offering their nationwide plans anymore, and they are not selling TDMA coverage anymore, I wonder if a take over might just be eminent. Oh how I wish!!!!!!!!!

Well, the TDMA phase-out may have disrupted their roaming agreements enough that the national plan is no longer viable.

And, I've got to wonder if the expansion into Memphis and West Tennessee is paying off. Ironically they probably were a better takeover target for VZW before they added that overlap. Plus, VZW buying spectrum in Jackson makes no sense if they're actually buying Cellular South in the short to medium term.

All that said, there's really nowhere else for Cellular South to go on their own unless they buy US Unwired (which might not be a bad move, as it would give them access to the SPCS brand, but I doubt they can afford it) or RCC's Alabama properties (the Mississippi parts would be useless overlap).