Wednesday, November 7, 2012

US Cellular Sells Chicago to Sprint

US Cellular is one of our top-rated networks.  One one hand it's sad to see them sell off spectrum and customers to Sprint in the Chicago to St. Louis territory, but it's also nice to see they're staying in the fight.  It would have been great to see US Cellular become a nationwide network but they just don't have the financial resources.

There's a lot to not like about the deal, especially if you're one of the millions who get sent over to the Sprint tent.  It could be the best thing to happen to the rest of the network.  US Cellular has a chance to survive for a bit longer and service could continue to get better.  US Cellular is still expanding 4G coverage and still treats customers better than the others.  Where US Cellular is good, they're very, very good.  In the affected areas they were not their best.  I believe they're lucky to find a buyer since Sprint doesn't really need the spectrum.

This is similar to the recent deal with Plateau Wireless in New Mexico who sold off a piece of their network to Verizon Wireless.  The idea is to create a better and stronger network...as long as it isn't one of the Big 4. 

Those of us in the affected areas could do worse than Sprint.  Then there's the folks in the US Cellular home office in Chicago...now what?

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