T-Mobile US Inc. is getting more mobile broadband-capable spectrum and a wider 3G roaming footprint in the U.S. as part of the breakup terms linked to AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s failed merger with the Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) unit, the German parent company revealed Tuesday morning.

It has been known since the $39 billion deal was announced in March that DT would get a $3 billion payment if the merger failed. AT&T will take a $4 billion hit, including accounting charges, before the end of year.

The spectrum and roaming additions are, however, a fresh sweetener to the generally bitter pill for DT and T-Mobile USA. The fourth-ranked American carrier will get:

Why this matters
At the very least, the additional AWS spectrum will give T-Mobile the opportunity to further upgrade its HSPA+ service. As handsets with a two-by-two array of "smart antennnas" arrive, the carrier could ramp up the theoretical maximum top-speed of its broadband service to 84Mbit/s. Company officials have already discussed this eventuality. (See 4G World: Faster 3G in US – Charting HSPA+.) What is less clear is whether T-Mobile could now repurpose some of the AWS spectrum to use for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) service, much like Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) plans to do with some of its existing bandwidth. We hope to update you on this soon. (See Sprint: First LTE Site Is 'Up & Running'.)

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Ride this roller coaster of an M&A attempt one more time here.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile