- UScellular’s sale to T-Mobile is expected to close this Friday
- After that, UScellular will be a tower company known as Array Digital Infrastructure
- Doug Chambers, currently UScellular’s CFO, will serve as interim president and CEO of Array Digital
Once the fifth largest mobile network operator in the U.S., UScellular will soon turn into a tower company when it closes the sale of its wireless operations to T-Mobile on Friday, August 1, provided all the closing conditions are met.
The company late last week announced that its name will change to Array Digital Infrastructure, with current UScellular CFO Doug Chambers serving as interim president and CEO. He will be responsible for overseeing a portfolio of 4,400 towers, as well as some spectrum that UScellular will retain after selling the majority of its licenses to the Big 3 carriers.
UScellular was established more than four decades ago by LeRoy Carlson, founder of parent company Telephone and Data Systems (TDS). The Carlson family has remained involved with the company throughout the years.
“Doug brings decades of industry experience and a robust understanding of the company's strategy and overall operations, making him well suited to serve as interim president and CEO," said UScellular Board Chair LeRoy T. Carlson Jr. in a statement. "The board is confident that Doug is the right leader to oversee the successful transition to Array while we consider potential choices for a permanent CEO."
Chambers joined the TDS family of companies back in 2007 and has served as executive vice president, CFO and treasurer of UScellular for the past six years. He’s also on the board of UScellular.
No word on what current UScellular CEO Laurent Therivel plans to do once the deal closes. He's been focused on the pending transaction with T-Mobile and hasn't shared his future plans, according to a spokesperson.
Array Digital will remain headquartered in Chicago, but the stock ticker on the NYSE will change from “USM” to the new “AD.”
UScellular: Price closer to $4.3B
T-Mobile last year agreed to buy substantially all of UScellular’s wireless operations for about $4.4 billion, including its 4 million wireless customers. But the purchase price is now closer to $4.3 billion because $100 million was contingent on UScellular achieving certain performance metrics prior to close and it wasn’t able to meet those, Chambers said during the company’s Q1 earnings conference call.
T-Mobile also is buying about 30% of UScellular’s spectrum – 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 2.5 GHz, AWS and PCS spectrum. The FCC gave its approval to the deal earlier this month after T-Mobile agreed to wipe out all of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Separately, UScellular agreed to sell 3.45 GHz and 700 MHz spectrum to AT&T and 850 MHz, AWS and PCS licenses to Verizon. Those transactions are contingent on the closure of the T-Mobile deal.
During T-Mobile’s Q2 conference call last week, CEO Mike Sievert said the tie-up with UScellular will give it a 50% or more increase in capacity in the combined footprint – UScellular’s network is in 21 states – and T-Mobile’s site coverage will expand by one-third, from 9,000 to 12,000 sites, in mostly smaller markets and rural areas.