4 | Dish’s new 600 MHz lease to T-Mobile could trigger C-band moves – analyst | ---------- | |
FierceWireless: Wireless | 2020-09-16 01:00 | ????0? | |
The companies’ statement acknowledges that the leasing arrangement will cause T-Mobile to either trigger or increase its overage above the spectrum screen in many markets, but says the screen is not a finding of competitive harm – “merely a processing tool for identifying situations in which competitive concerns could arise.” The commission has “repeatedly found that spectrum leases or acquisitions exceeding the screen are pro-competitive and in the public interest where the spectrum would facilitate the buildout of next generation networks, improve service to customers and put fallow spectrum to use,” it states.The public interest statement further notes that given the substantial spectrum holdings of T-Mobile’s rivals, “there can be no realistic concern that the proposed leasing arrangement is anti-competitive or somehow forecloses these rival providers from access to spectrum.” AT&T or Verizon owns one of the two 800 MHz cellular licenses in every cellular market area (CMA), and AT&T and Verizon collectively own both of the cellular authorizations in 143 of the 153 CMAs.Those seven markets include New York and Miami but do not include Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. “The narrower than expected spectrum lease results in T-Mobile owning 30 MHz or less of this spectrum band in half of the top 40 markets,” including San Francisco and Atlanta, the analysts wrote. “At the end of the Dish and Columbia Capital leases, T-Mobile will be left with its original holdings of 30 MHz or less in all of the top 40 markets.”“T-Mobile is clearly concerned about how this lease term might impact its spectrum screen, as a large portion of the public interest filing was dedicated to this item,” wrote Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone, referring to that earlier filing where Verizon raised spectrum screen questions. “We suspect that the comments in T-Mobile and Dish’s public statement were triggered by that filing and we still wonder if Verizon is gearing up to argue that T-Mobile should not be permitted to bid in the C-Band auction, given its already very deep mid-band spectrum holdings.”Verizon has long been expected to play aggressively in the C-band auction – after all, of the Big 3, it’s the carrier with the least amount of mid-band spectrum for 5G – but T-Mobile has fought valiantly throughout the C-band proceeding, before and after its merger with Sprint closed April 1. T-Mobile might have enough mid-band spectrum for now, but given it’s desire to leave rivals in the dust, it’s no doubt going to give Verizon a run for its money wherever and however it can. -- ???????? | |||
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