T-Mobile now officially owns UScell...

T-Mobile has sealed the deal on its UScellular acquisition. In exchange for $4.3 billion, T-Mobile gets UScellular’s customers, stores and 30 percent of its spectrum.

If you’re a UScellular customer, you don’t have to do anything. “UScellular customers stay on their existing plans with no changes for now,” the carrier said. You can continue to manage your account through UScellular’s website. You can also still turn to the T-Mobile-owned carrier for customer support.

The $4.3 billion wasn’t the only price T-Mobile had to pay. To gain the approval of Trump’s FCC, the carrier agreed to gut its DEI programs. That followed Verizon doing the same for its Frontier acquisition. The president has used merger approvals as a cudgel to push his agenda (including getting lawsuits settled) in the private sector.

UScellular will now exist only as an infrastructure company. It can now generate revenue from licensing its remaining spectrum and towers.