s suitable for next-generation Long- Term Evolution (LTE) data networks. Competition, Industry Structures, and Regulations Table 3-4 The Ten Largest Facilities-Based Cellular Companies in the United States Number of Cellular Provider Connections* Recent Acquisitions Verizon Wireless 104 million Purchased Alltel Corporation and Rural Cellular in 2008 AT&T Mobility 95.5 million Purchased Centennial in 2008 Sprint Nextel 51 million Owns 48 percent of Clearwire T-Mobile USA 33.6 million MetroPCS 8.9 million Clearwire Corporation 6.2 million Includes wholesale and retail US Cellular 6 million Leap Wireless (Cricket 5.9 million brand) C Spire Wireless (for- 880,000** merly named Cellular South Inc.) Cincinnati Bell 504,000 *Source: Company web sites; includes postpaid, prepaid, and wholesale. Connections refer to the number of accounts rather than the number of subscribers. Some customers have more than one account. **Figure is approximate due to the fact that C Spire Wireless is a private company. In addition to the spectrum it leased in the latest FCC auction, AT&T announced its agreement to purchase unused spectrum for $1.93 billion from Qualcomm in 2010. Regulatory approval for the purchase was granted in December 2011. AT&T announced that it will be used for downlink capacity to accommodate traffic from its network to subscribers. The technology to use this particular spectrum will be avail- able on the next generation of LTE technology by sometime in 2015. Another disadvantage for many smaller carriers is their higher percentage of pre- paid customers. Prepaid customers have higher churn rates and lower average revenue per user (ARPU). Because of higher costs and churn rates and lower ARPU, small car- riers as a rule earn lower profits. According to an April 7, 2011 article on Reuters.com, "FCC mandates wireless data roaming," by Jasmin Melvin, if the AT&T Mobility pur- chase of T-Mobile USA had been approved, between them, AT&T and Verizon would have had 80 percent of all postpaid wireless customers. The State o