T-Mobile Not Interested in Buying EchoStar Licenses
T-Mobile had zero interest in the 3.45 GHz spectrum AT&T is buying from EchoStar as part of a $23 billion deal (see 2508260005), T-Mobile executives told attendees at financial conferences Thursday, echoing the sentiments of Verizon (see 2509030027). AT&T plans to quickly deploy the spectrum (see 2509050024).
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With T-Mobile’s extensive 2.5 GHz portfolio, 3.45 GHz “didn't make sense for us,” COO Srinivasan Gopalan said at a Citi conference. He noted that 2.5 GHz offers “70% more coverage” than the C band, which is just above the 3.45 GHz band, because of its better propagation characteristics. The 3.45 GHz band is also “encumbered” in some markets, he said, which is why T-Mobile has sold licenses it bought in the 3.45 GHz auction.
Similarly, T-Mobile CFO Peter Osvaldik told a Bank of America conference that “we weren't really interested” in 3.45 GHz “because it doesn't align with our spectrum leadership position and strategy.”
Gopalan said the 600 MHz spectrum that AT&T is buying from EchoStar was a more natural fit, but in most of the markets covered, T-Mobile already has more than enough low-band spectrum. Carriers can add capacity by buying spectrum or adding sites, he said. T-Mobile always considers “what it would cost to build sites versus the cost of the spectrum."
Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile’s Consumer Group, said at the BofA conference that the carrier hasn’t seen any negative effects so far from the Trump administration's clampdown on immigration. “We're preparing for some potential impact, but we haven't seen an impact at all.”
In general, the wireless market is volatile at this point, Freier added. “Switching volume is up,” and “we like it that way,” he said. “Where it actually goes from here, it's kind of hard to know.” The market is hard enough to predict that T-Mobile doesn’t engage in forecasting industry-wide net adds, he said.