T-Mobile is making a big move to boost its presence in Iowa.
T-Mobile has agreed to acquire the remaining interest in Iowa Wireless, also known as iWireless, from Aureon. iWireless offers service in western Illinois, Iowa, and eastern Nebraska, has 103 full service stores and serves 75,000 customers.
With this deal, iWireless customers will get all of the benefits that T-Mobile offers. T-Mo says that it plans to expand its LTE coverage in Iowa this year, which will be followed by other investments and 600MHz deployment in the future.
This deal is subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions. It’s expected to close in Q4 2017 or early 2018.
T-Mobile hasn’t exactly had a strong presence in midwestern states like Iowa and Nebraska, but the carrier is working to change that. Earlier this year, T-Mo acquired 600MHz spectrum that covers both of those states, and now T-Mo has made this move to beef up its presence in Iowa even further. T-Mobile wants to continue growing and competing with AT&T and Verizon, and these moves will help that effort.