FCC Approves T-Mobile/HTC Spectrum Swap Despite EchoStar Objections
The FCC approved a spectrum swap between T-Mobile and Horry Telephone Co-op (HTC), said an order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. T-Mobile and HTC agreed to exchange 20 MHz of HTC’s…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
600 MHz spectrum for up to 25 MHz of T-Mobile’s cellular spectrum in four counties in South Carolina. T-Mobile also acquired 10 MHz of HTC’s 600 MHz spectrum in two counties in North Carolina. Post-transaction, T-Mobile will hold 293-338 MHz, including 74 MHz of below-one-GHz spectrum, and HTC 92-137 MHZ, including 12-37 MHz below 1 GHz spectrum, in the South Carolina markets, the order said. T-Mobile would hold 390 MHz, including 76 MHz below 1 GHz, in the North Carolina counties. The FCC noted that only EchoStar objected, citing spectrum aggregation concerns. “Based on our review of the record and our market-by-market analysis, we find that the likelihood of competitive harm is low in the markets that are the subject of these transactions, despite T-Mobile’s increase in total spectrum holdings and low-band spectrum holdings,” the FCC said: “We disagree with EchoStar that the proposed assignments would disserve the public interest.”