FCC Green Lights AT&T/Qualcomm Deal

AT&T recently took a $4 billion beating at the hands of federal regulators when its plan to purchase T-Mobile in part to get the wireless spectrum to build out its network more fully failed. The result was a $3 billion cash payment to T-Mobile's parent company for the deal failing along with a bunch of stock. Word came yesterday that the FCC had approved another deal that AT&T had cooking.

AT&T's bid to purchase $1.9 billion worth of airwave licenses from Qualcomm has now been approved as of late Thursday night. This is good news that should make AT&T feel a bit better after the rough few months the company had has. The new spectrum licenses will help AT&T to ease its congested network with the number of smartphone and tablet data users on the rise.

There were conditions imposed on the deal that have to do with data roaming and interference reports The Hill. The FCC approved the deal 3-1 with the sole person not for the plan being Michael Copps. He said that he could be persuaded to agree with the right set of conditions on the deal to make it more pro-consumer. With three needed votes in place, AT&T is set though.