Blue Wireless to shut down, offload spectrum to Verizon

Blue Wireless, a small-scale US mobile operator that serves low-income customers in New York and Pennsylvania, is shutting down and transferring its spectrum holdings to Verizon Wireless, PCMag has reported. The tech website notes that Blue Wireless is expected to terminate its services in July, after issuing 90-day warnings to its customer base. As per Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documentation, the spectrum transfer involves a number of AWS and PCS licences currently held by Spotlight Media Corporation and MCG PCS, both of which are understood to be owned by long-term wireless investor Michael Gelfand.

Blue Wireless launched back in 2004 using equipment purchased from bankruptcy-stricken Adelphia Communications and initially focused on the Buffalo-Niagara Falls market. The company website – which makes no mention of the impending shutdown – says that the cellco offers nationwide connectivity, but notes that its customers must live in its ‘home coverage areas’ within New York and Pennsylvania.

―Comms Update