T-Mobile to purchase licenses from Verizon for $2.4 billion
BELLEVUE – T-Mobile said Monday that it’s reached deals to buy spectrum licenses from Verizon Wireless for $2.37 billion in cash, allowing it to improve certain kinds of cellular service in markets across the U.S.
The agreements also include the transfer of other kinds of spectrum licenses from T-Mobile to Verizon Wireless that the companies value at about $950 million.
The deals, combined with T-Mobile’s existing holdings, will give T-Mobile low-band spectrum in nine of the top 10 U.S. markets.
Low-band spectrum boosts cellular coverage inside buildings and in rural areas. It also has the ability to travel greater distances than high-band spectrum, making it a more efficient way to provide coverage at the edge of cities and in less densely populated areas.
Combined with T-Mobile’s existing holdings, the low-band spectrum will cover about 158 million people in U.S. markets including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit and Washington, D.C.
New U.S. orders at 4-year low
WASHINGTON – U.S. service companies expanded at a steady but slightly slower pace in December as sales dipped and new orders plunged to a four-year low. The report suggests economic growth may remain modest in the coming months.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its service-sector index fell to 53 last month, down from 53.9 in November. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
A measure of new orders plummeted 7 points to 49.4, the first time it has dropped below 50 since July 2009. A gauge of business stockpiles also fell sharply. But a gauge of hiring increased 3.3 points to 55.8, evidence that services firms are adding more jobs.
Thermo Fisher sells assets to GE
WALTHAM, Mass. – Scientific instrument maker Thermo Fisher is selling its cell culture, gene modulation and magnetic beads businesses to a General Electric Co. division for approximately $1.06 billion.
The businesses, which had combined annual revenue of about $250 million in 2013, will become part of GE Healthcare’s life sciences unit.
GE said the transaction allows it to expand its offering of technologies for the discovery and manufacturing of new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics in its life sciences business. The deal is expected to close in the first part of 2014.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said Monday that it is selling the businesses to speed up European Commission approval of its pending $13.6 billion acquisition of Life Technologies Corp. The company said that deal still needs approval from the Federal Trade Commission, but that based on talks with the FTC, it doesn’t believe any additional asset sales will be needed to receive U.S. approval.
Plane orders boost factory work
WASHINGTON – U.S. factories orders climbed in November, led by a surge in aircraft demand. And businesses stepped up spending on machinery, computers and other long-lasting goods, a sign of investment that could fuel economic growth.
Factory orders rose 1.8 percent in November, the Commerce Department said Monday. That follows a 0.5 percent decrease in October.
Orders received by manufacturers totaled a seasonally adjusted $497.8 billion in November, the highest level on records dating to 1992. Orders have increased 2.5 percent over the past 12 months.