(Telecompaper) AT&T has announced in an 8-K filing that it has agreed to acquire spectrum in the 700 MHz B band from Verizon Wireless for USD 1.9 billion in cash and Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum license from several markets, including Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles and Fresno, California and Portland, Oregon. The 700 MHz licenses will be acquired by AT&T to cover 42 million people in eighteen states including California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. In conjunction with this transaction, AT&T will sell to Grain Management a single AWS license and will lease 700 MHz spectrum from Grain Management in three markets. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. AT&T anticipates closing the transaction in the second half of the year.