AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have announced an agreement “in principle” to form a new joint venture (JV) that aims to help end wireless dead zones in the U.S., including in rural areas.
How? By pooling limited spectrum resources to increase capacity, improve the customer experience, and help satellite providers reach more customers through a unified platform. The JV remains subject to negotiating definitive agreements between the parties and satisfying customary closing conditions.
Collectively, satellite services function as supplementary components to the core wireless services customers depend on. By collaborating on this JV, the partners will be able to enhance convenience for their customers, enable competition and foster innovation and growth within the industry, John Stankey, Chairman and CEO, AT&T, said.
Representatives of the three wireless carriers say the JV will offer the following custom benefits:
- Fewer coverage gaps: Will nearly eliminate dead zones in the U.S. currently without mobile service, reaching previously unserved areas.
- Reliable connectivity in emergencies: Redundant connectivity will become available when existing ground-based networks are unavailable due to extreme natural disasters or other unusual disruptions.
- Improved network performance: Will give customers more consistent performance and simpler access to satellite services across providers. This will speed up feature updates and improve connectivity for everyone, everywhere.
- Innovative communications services: Through combined investment by the three JV partners, provider options will expand, and, as a first step, D2D access will improve. This will enhance competition as consumer choices grow in satellite service. Emerging communications technologies can be more easily and quickly developed and launched to enhance customer experience.
- Common technical specifications: A unified approach will provide a better and more consistent customer experience across the industry.
Existing carrier-satellite agreements will remain in place and the JV partners can continue connectivity efforts independently.
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