In the U.S., a $20 billion acquisition of Nextel by Verizon could be good for Michigan, and its neighbors in rural counties across the Midwest, but for many in the Rust Belt it’s bad news for everyone else.
The deal could allow Nextel to extend its reach across the U, with the company also buying Bright House Networks, which offers broadband in about 15 states.
It would also allow Nextels broadband to expand across the country, and would enable the company to compete with more established companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon.
In the Midwest and the Northeast, Nextel already operates its own broadband network, called Nextel Nextel.
It currently has 5 million subscribers in all 50 states.
In Michigan, Nextels current broadband footprint consists of about 20,000 customers.
But the company is trying to grow that to 300,000 by 2020, with plans to build a new 100,000-node network that could add as many as 100 million subscribers.
The company is looking for $5.7 billion to $5,931 billion in public and private investment to build out its infrastructure.
The federal government already funds most of Nextels existing network, with $6.6 billion in stimulus funds, and $2.9 billion in an existing grant program.
Nextel already has the largest customer base in the U: Comcast, with roughly 3.6 million subscribers nationwide.
The acquisition would give Nextel access to that market, but the company said that the merger would not include any other customers.
“Our customers have said they’re willing to be a part of this deal, but we also understand that there are a lot of potential conflicts of interest that may be in the mix,” a Nextel spokesperson told the AP.
“This merger will allow us to focus our efforts on building the network and improving the customer experience, not expanding or contracting with any third parties.”
In addition to the merger, NextEL has recently launched a partnership with Nextel America, which owns the majority of Nextell’s network.
That partnership is a $1 billion investment to add broadband to the United States, and Nextell has said it expects to bring broadband to at least 10 million homes in the next three years.
The company says it is looking to bring more broadband to markets like the Midwest in 2019, but did not say which markets or whether those could be included in the merger.
