Verizon-Northcoast Deal Done

[Kenster]

Verizon-Northcoast Deal Done

By Wireless Week Staff
December 20, 2002
news@2 direct

Verizon Wireless gets a big boost in potential network capacity through its $750 million cash deal to buy 50 PCS licenses from struggling cable TV system operator Cablevision Systems.

The all-cash deal, which has been rumored since Cablevision announced a restructuring plan in September to help it pay down debt, includes spectrum and network assets in such major markets as New York City; Boston; Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Rochester, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn. It does not apparently include Cleveland, the only market where Cablevision offers wireless service commercially.

The cable company will use $60 million of the sale proceeds to retire Northcoast's PCS license debt. Verizon Wireless is funding the purchase from an existing credit arrangement with its parent Verizon Communications.

'These highly attractive licenses, overlapping some of our most densely populated service areas, will enable us to efficiently deploy capital to provide more network capacity,' says Verizon Wireless President and CEO Denny Strigl.

In fact, Verizon estimates that in some markets it could boost network capacity by 40 percent with the new spectrum. Licenses are 10 MHz chunks of the 1900 MHz frequency acquired in the D-, E- and F-block auctions, covering about 47.4 million POPs.

Markets covered by the licenses include 50 markets in the states of Connecticut; Rhode Island; Massachusetts; Ohio; New York; Maine; Minnesota; New Hampshire; Vermont; Pennsylvania; West Virginia and Kentucky.