Verizon Wireless To Acquire PCS Licenses Serving Southern Oklahoma
Company Signs Agreement with Triad Holdings I, LLC, For 10 MHz Licenses in Ardmore and Lawton-Duncan Markets
May 14, 2001
BEDMINSTER, NJ
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Verizon Wireless today announced it has signed an agreement with Triad Holdings I, LLC to acquire Triad's Personal Communications Service (PCS) licenses covering the Southern Oklahoma Basic Trading Areas (BTAs) of Ardmore and Lawton-Duncan. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The company said it would use the licenses to expand its national wireless footprint to the north of its current Texas network and south of the Oklahoma City and Enid, Oklahoma markets, covered by wireless spectrum for which Verizon Wireless was high bidder in the FCC's recently concluded license auction.
The Ardmore BTA includes the Oklahoma counties of Carter, Johnston, Love, Marshall and Murray. The Lawton-Duncan BTA includes the counties of Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson, Stephens and Tillman. The total population (POPS) served by the licenses is about 267,000. Major highway corridors include Interstates I-35 and I-44.
The new license areas, when built out with a wireless network, will become part of the Verizon Wireless South Area, headquartered in Alpharetta, GA. The company expects to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2001 and launch service by April 2002.
Triad Holdings is a wireless systems operator headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Daniels & Associates, a Denver-based media and telecommunications mergers and acquisitions specialist, represented Triad Holdings in the sale of its PCS licenses.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 27 million wireless voice and data customers. The coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD), including Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless and PrimeCo Personal Communications. Verizon Wireless has a footprint covering more than 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. The company, headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, is 40,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com.