T-Mobile Announces UScellular Acquisition, Promises Improved Connectivity in Rural Areas

T-Mobile today announced plans to purchase UScellular's wireless operations for $4.4 billion, a deal that includes UScellular's wireless customers, stores, and select cellular spectrum.

T Mobile Generic Feature Pink 1
According to T-Mobile, the purchase will provide millions of UScellular customers access to the T-Mobile network, improving connectivity in underserved rural areas. T-Mobile also plans to use the spectrum and wireless assets from UScellular to expand its home broadband offerings.

T-Mobile's press release suggests that wireless customers across the United States will "benefit from enhanced choice and competition," wording aimed at the federal regulators who will need to approve the deal. UScellular will retain ownership of some of its spectrum and its towers, with T-Mobile planning to lease space on approximately 2,000 towers.

UScellular customers will have the option to stay on their existing plans or move to an unlimited T-Mobile plan with no switching costs.

T-Mobile has previously acquired MetroPCS and Sprint, with the latter merger occurring in 2020 after it was previously called off in 2014. U.S. regulators have been concerned with the lack of a fourth major carrier in the United States and could be hesitant to approve yet another T-Mobile purchase.

T-Mobile says that the deal should close in mid-2025.

Popular Stories

Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google recently made waves by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
Apple Glasses Purple Feature

Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:22 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a set of smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg. The glasses will be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google showed off earlier this week. Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
maxresdefault

OpenAI Buys Jony Ive's AI Startup to 'Completely Reimagine What It Means to Use a Computer'

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:27 am PDT by
OpenAI is acquiring io, the hardware-based AI startup co-created by Jony Ive, OpenAI announced today. Ive has been working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on io for two years, and the duo expects to develop a family of AI devices. In a video shared by OpenAI, Altman and Ive outlined their partnership and what they expect to create as a result of the merger. "I have a growing sense that everything ...
WWDC 2025 Banner

Apple Announces WWDC 2025 Schedule, Including Keynote Time

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
iPod shuffle generations

Kuo: Jony Ive's Futuristic OpenAI Device Like a Neck-Worn iPod Shuffle

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The big news in the technology world this week is that ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working more closely with Apple's former design chief Jony Ive on a futuristic AI device. The company is remaining tight lipped about the device, but Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared some alleged details about its design. In a social media post today, Kuo said the device will be "slightly larger" ...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired Feature 1

macOS 16: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday May 20, 2025 7:31 am PDT by
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented event, is less than three weeks away. We haven't heard a great deal about macOS 16 ahead of its announcement this year, so we could be in for some major surprises when June 9 rolls around. Here's what we know so far about the next major update to Apple's Mac operating system. macOS 16 Name? Every year ...

Top Rated Comments

ssspinball Avatar
13 months ago
Would love to hear T-Mobile explain how removing a competitor results in “enhanced choice and competition”.

Don’t piss on our heads and tell us it’s raining!
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Morod Avatar
13 months ago
Consolidation is never good for consumers, IMO.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
13 months ago
I no longer trust T-Mobile about anything
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dampfnudel Avatar
13 months ago

Consolidation is never good for consumers, IMO.
As a T-Mobile One subscriber, I learned that last week. If you learned that as a T-Mobile subscriber too, let the FCC know that they broke their un-contract promise that only you can change the price. They still have that 2017 press release on their website.

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/360001201223-Phone-Form-Descriptions-of-Complaint-Issues
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SierraVista Avatar
13 months ago
And there goes the last “big” regional carrier.

I’m old enough to remember when Sprint ruined the Nextel iDEN network (imagine an iDEN iPhone with a PTT button!). Consolidation is not a good thing.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Viridian5 Avatar
13 months ago
Price increase for many last week, acquisition this week. But what’s the thing they tell all us regular people? “Don’t buy it if you can’t afford it”. ?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)