Bidding slowed in the C-band auction Friday, with provisionally winning bids closing at $80.6 billion after five rounds Friday, up from $80.5 billion Thursday. "Bidders seem to be finalizing their demand,” wrote Wiley’s Ari Meltzer and Rick Edelman: “Bidders have placed bids on all licenses, and average prices for the blocks in the largest US markets seem to have been determined.”
Verizon 5G Home Internet will expand this month to parts of Anaheim, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco, St. Louis and Arlington, Texas, the carrier said Thursday. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service is coming to Colorado Springs, Knoxville and Columbia, South Carolina.
T-Mobile expects 1.7 million total net additions in Q4, including 824,000 postpaid phones. Total customer count increased to a new record high of 102.1 million. It added 5.6 million customers in 2020.
The FCC’s C-band auction broke the $80 billion mark Thursday, as expected (see 2101040061), closing at $80.5 billion after 65 rounds. That doesn’t include some $13 billion in additional accelerated clearing payments. The FCC scheduled five more rounds Friday. The auction opened Dec. 8.
T-Mobile told the FCC two licensees remain to be retuned in the 800 MHz rebanding. “T-Mobile has continued its efforts to work with impacted licensees to complete all remaining retunes and to contractually close all remaining Frequency Reconfiguration Agreements (FRAs) with incumbent licensees,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 02-55.
Verizon and AT&T executives told a Citigroup virtual conference Tuesday they have the spectrum they need now. Both are expected to add to their portfolios through the ongoing C-band auction (see 2101040061). Only about 60% of Verizon’s existing spectrum holdings are “actually deployed for LTE at this stage,” said Ronan Dunne, Verizon consumer group CEO. “We have the ability to deliver more from the existing spectrum we have.” The “creme de la creme” of the portfolio is its extensive 28 and 39 GHz holdings, he said. Verizon closed 85% of its stores during the early days of the pandemic, with a second wave in late 2020, but stores are now at about 85% capacity, he said. AT&T has the “deepest low-band and medium-band spectrum portfolio” for 5G, said Chief Financial Officer John Stephens. “We have the fastest, highest-quality, best coverage, best speeds for iPhones. All those network investments that we made are paying off.” Stephens said the pandemic “significantly impacted our overall business,” but “we're still generating $26 billion in free cash flow.” The C-band auction hit $79.8 billion Wednesday in provisionally winning bids.
The FCC seeks comment by Feb. 4, replies by Feb. 19, on whether to open a window to consider authorizing additional volunteer examiner coordinators (VECs) who prepare and administer amateur radio operator exams. There are 14 VECs, and the Wireless Bureau would consider “likely no more than five” more, said a Tuesday notice in docket 21-448.
Backtrack on ending secondary status for amateur operators in the 3.3-3.5 GHz band, since only CTIA filed an opposition to ARRL's November petition for reconsideration (see 2011100049), the amateur group told the FCC. “The Commission did not substantively explain with the requisite ‘rational connection between the facts found and the choice made’ why it chose in this case to clear the spectrum at one fell swoop well before it may be utilized by any new licensee,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-348.
Localities and NATOA are seeking “reconsideration and rescission” of the FCC’s wireless infrastructure order, approved 3-2 in October (see 2010270043). The order addresses equipment compound expansions as part of collocations, clarifying that an infrastructure modification doesn’t cause a “substantial change” if it entails excavation or deployments up to 30 feet outside macro tower compound boundaries. “No data or analysis is presented that applications falling outside of the prior … rules face significant delays or denial,” said the petition posted Tuesday in docket 19-250. “Nor is there any economic evidence to substantiate that the proposed change will speed deployment,” it said: “In contrast, communities have provided hundreds of pages of exhibits, including economic studies detailing the minor role local government fees and processes play" in "retarding wireless infrastructure deployment.” Boston; Portland, Oregon; Lincoln, Nebraska; Howard County, Maryland; and Clarke County, Nevada, were among signers, as were Michigan and Texas groups.
CEO Ganesh Pattabiraman and others from NextNav spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on the company’s “continued progress” in building a vertical location network, said a filing posted Friday in docket 07-114. It was part of a series of calls with FCC officials (see 2012230039).