AT&T buys wireless spectrum, readies investment in system

A New York company said last week that it sold a license for wireless spectrum in Reno to a unit of AT&T Mobility.

LICT Corp. of Rye, N.Y. said it sold the Reno spectrum as part of a $6.6 million transaction that involved wireless spectrum in four markets nationwide. The company didn't break out financial details for the Reno transaction.

The wireless license, which currently isn't in use, was acquired by LICT Corp. at an FCC auction in 2002.

Brooke Burgess, a spokeswoman for AT&T, said the purchase won't have any immediate effect on the company's northern Nevada customers.

"We acquired this spectrum to help us meet projected demand for mobility," Burgess said. The company also will need additional spectrum as it rolls its fourth-generation wireless network, which it has dubbed

"Long Term Evolution." Industry publications have said that the fourth-generation network probably will be available in 2012.

The company introduced its third-generation service in Reno and Carson City at the end of last year

Separately, AT&T said last week it will invest more than $290 million in Reno and northern California this year to expand its wireless coverage.

The company has built one cell-tower site in south Reno already this year, Burgess said, and other new towers are planned. Throughout northern Nevada and northern California, AT&T plans to add 80 tower sites this year.