AT&T Mobility to Acquire Long Lines Wireless Network Assets

AT&T Mobility will acquire wireless network assets from Long Lines, a communications provider. Under the deal, Long Lines will also send its wireless subscribers to AT&T Mobility.

AT&T Mobility will also buy transport services from Long Lines via its fiber optic network.

The deal is likely to be completed in Q4 of 2013 or Q1 of 2014.

AT&T stands to benefit from the sale, as the wireless assets gained will include spectrum and cell sites.

In a report, iClarified said Long Lines has 700 MHz, PCS and AWS spectrum licenses. The provider will allow AT&T to offer LTE to parts of Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.

"As part of its commitment to providing a great mobile Internet experience, AT&T is enhancing its wireless coverage in northwestern Iowa," AT&T said in a statement made to iClarified.

Also, Long Lines will invest the money from the sale to increase its non-wireless service offerings, and fiber optic network, MobilityTechzone reported.

The purchase needs to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission before it can be made final.

Also, Long Lines Wireless stores will remain open for at least six months after the sale.

The deal does not impact Long Lines’ non-wireless network services including landline voice, broadband Internet and cable television programming, according to Iowa’s KIWA Radio.

In explaining the deal, Long Lines says that regional wireless providers now “have limited access to the latest smartphones and other devices, and it has become increasingly difficult for Long Lines Wireless to meet the digital mobile needs of their customers,” the radio station reported. Long Lines has been in the Siouxland market, located in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa since 1941.

Looking at it from the customer’s perspective, Chuck Long, chairman of Long Lines, and Jon Winkel, vice chairman, said in a statement that the sale “is tremendously positive for Long Lines’ customers…Wireless subscribers will be able to choose from the state-of-the-art phones and services offered by AT&T, and they are excited about the investments in new services and equipment they will now be able to offer to their Internet and Cable TV customers.”