AT&T Could Owe Sprint Millions Thanks to Leap Contract

[cdmagurus.com]

AT&T might have to pay Sprint millions of dollars if it is successful in acquiring Leap Wireless. Leap has an existing MVNO contract with Sprint in order to roam onto its CDMA and LTE networks. The agreement contains a clause specifying that any company that purchases Leap could terminate the MVNO agreement, but "would be required to pay to Sprint a specified percentage of the remaining aggregate minimum purchase commitment." The MVNO contract was forged in 2010 and was worth $300 million at the time. Based on the payment schedule, Leap has already paid Sprint about $175 million, leaving $125 million unpaid. Leap did not disclose the amount of the final minimum payment. AT&T proposed to buy Leap Wireless earlier this year for $1.2 billion. If the proposal meets regulatory approval, AT&T will eventually transition Leap's CDMA customers to its GSM/HSPA network and repurpose Leap's spectrum for its own LTE 4G network.


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