RWA and EchoStar Urge FCC to Reject T-Mobile/Grain Deal
EchoStar and the Rural Wireless Association urged the FCC to reject waivers allowing Grain Management's proposed purchase of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio (see 2503210033). Utility groups weighed in to support the transaction. Reply comments were posted Wednesday in docket 25-178, closing out the pleading cycle.
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T-Mobile was required to sell the 800 MHz spectrum as part of its purchase of Sprint, giving the first option to Dish Network. Dish, which has since been acquired by EchoStar, didn’t exercise that option (see 2403010041). “Has T-Mobile actually been using the 800 MHz licenses in question?” EchoStar asked in its filing. T-Mobile has declined to answer that question and may have already triggered the automatic termination provisions in federal law, EchoStar said.
The Rural Wireless Association said the deal would harm rural competition “by enabling excessive concentration of valuable 600 MHz spectrum in the hands of a nationwide wireless carrier, facilitating spectrum warehousing by Grain, and failing to ensure meaningful access to spectrum for rural and regional carriers.” The waiver requests are also premature, the group said. Grain hasn’t “demonstrated concrete plans to deploy, assign, or lease the 800 MHz spectrum to rural or regional carriers,” and its proposals “lack specificity regarding users and use cases.”
The Utilities Technology Council said most comments in the record back the deal. Utilities require access to spectrum to support increasing communications needs as they modernize their grids and focus on infrastructure security and reliability, the council said. The 800 MHz spectrum to be offered by Grain “would provide utilities with the capacity and the coverage that they need for private LTE and 5G capabilities for their field area networks, and the Applicants have demonstrated that they will provide this spectrum to utilities through secondary market transactions.”
The Utility Broadband Alliance said “the opportunity to obtain licensed broadband spectrum, including in the 800 MHz band, creates a significant opportunity for utilities to design, deploy, and operate private broadband networks to meet their demanding operational needs and requirements.”