Leap buys Carolina spectrun

San Diego-based Leap Wireless International has signed an agreement with Urban Comm-North Carolina, currently classified as Debtor-in-Possession, to purchase 13 spectrum licenses for $31.8 million in cash in markets spanning North and South Carolina.

The deal has to be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, which is overseeing Urban Comm-North Carolina's Chapter 11 filing.

Leap Wireless already offers service and in Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. The newlicenses will give the company 10 Mhz of spectrum in each of 13 markets that cover a total of 4.9 million potential customers. The new markets in North Carolina include: Asheville-Hendersonville, Burlington, Goldsboro-Kinston, Greenville-Washington, New Bern, Raleigh-Durham, Roanoke Rapids and Rocky Mount-Wilson. The markets in South Carolina include: Florence, Myrtle Beach, Orangeburg, Sumter, and Charleston.

Assuming the completion of the purchase described above and the previously announced sale of Toledo/Sandusky, as well as the completion of the company's joint venture transaction in Oregon through LCW Wireless, Leap and its affiliates will own wireless licenses covering approximately 76.3 million potential customers, according to a company statement.