Nokia anticipates President-elect Donald Trump will make his tech priorities clear early in the new administration, Brian Hendricks, Nokia’s chief policy and government affairs officer, said in a statement on Monday. “It is critical that programs like rip-and-replace and the Affordable Connectivity Program, which require new funding, be part of the early focus,” Hendricks said: “Failure to address these programs will risk expanding the digital divide, particularly in rural parts of the country. Aggressive action to restore spectrum auction authority to the [FCC] and to prioritize critical bands for future wireless deployments will provide the needed opportunity to fund and stabilize these programs via auction proceeds.” Hendricks called on the administration to work with Congress.
Wireless Spectrum Auctions
The FCC manages and licenses the electromagnetic spectrum used by wireless, broadcast, satellite and other telecommunications services for government and commercial users. This activity includes organizing specific telecommunications modes to only use specific frequencies and maintaining the licensing systems for each frequency such that communications services and devices using different bands receive as little interference as possible.
What are spectrum auctions?
The FCC will periodically hold auctions of unused or newly available spectrum frequencies, in which potential licensees can bid to acquire the rights to use a specific frequency for a specific purpose. As an example, over the last few years the U.S. government has conducted periodic auctions of different GHz bands to support the growth of 5G services.
AT&T CEO John Stankey urged lawmakers and the incoming Trump administration in a Tuesday Fortune opinion essay “to act in favor of broader coverage and lower prices by moving past” conducting more studies on reallocating midband spectrum bands, as the Biden administration has emphasized. The government should instead release those frequencies, Stankey wrote. He also endorsed the 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909), which “reauthorizes the FCC’s auction authority and directs the agency to license mid-band airwaves for full-power mobile broadband services. And because auctions, spectrum clearing, and development of sharing mechanisms can take years, it’s important that Congress act expeditiously next year to make it law.” The proposal, led by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “is a smart spectrum policy that will stimulate investment, and deliver better mobile coverage and capacity, including in underserved areas,” Stankey said: “It’ll also mean more competition in home broadband by facilitating fixed wireless services in geographically remote places that have been historically harder to reach with wired connections.” Should he becomes Senate Commerce chairman in the next Congress, as observers expect, Cruz will likely prioritize the Spectrum Pipeline Act rather than pursue legislation resembling the rival Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) Democrats back (see 2410290039). Stankey acknowledged DOD concerns about repurposing midband frequencies that currently include military incumbents but said “true national security requires the soft power that comes with a vibrant, competitive economy that makes America the world’s best place to develop cutting-edge technology and enables robust networks that can carry the essential load during unplanned events.” It’s “in the Pentagon’s interest to make an earnest effort to balance the legitimate needs of the military with those of American consumers and businesses to have access to world-class mobile infrastructure."
UScellular announced on Thursday a $1 billion agreement to sell AT&T some of its spectrum licenses, which are not part of the proposed sale of wireless assets to T-Mobile (see 2405280047). T-Mobile is buying “substantially all” of UScellular’s wireless operations in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, but it's purchasing only some of its spectrum licenses. AT&T agreed it will buy 3.45 GHz spectrum and 700 MHz B/C-block licenses for $1.018 billion. Like an earlier deal with Verizon and two undisclosed carriers, the sale is dependent on closing the proposed T-Mobile transaction. "We are pleased with the significant value that will be realized in the various transactions recently announced," said Laurent Therivel, UScellular CEO: "This agreement adds a fourth mobile network operator, in addition to T-Mobile, to the list of those whose subscribers will benefit from the sale of our spectrum licenses. As with the other mobile network operators, we are confident that AT&T can put it to productive use in communities throughout the U.S.” With the latest transaction, UScellular said it has deals to sell 70% of its total spectrum holdings, excluding high-band spectrum, measured on a MHz/POPs basis. UScellular retains 1.86 billion MHz/POPs of low and mid-band spectrum and 17.2 billion MHz/POPs of millimeter-wave, Therivel said, noting that the most valuable spectrum left to sell is in the C-band. “Our C-band licenses are positioned in an attractive mid-band frequency that can deliver outstanding speed and capacity.” There is “a substantial 5G ecosystem of equipment vendors and existing infrastructure that uses C-band” and “they have a lengthy build-out timeline, with first and second build-out dates of 2029 and 2033, respectively.” The deal “is in line with UScellular’s objective to monetize its remaining spectrum following the transaction with T-Mobile announced in May,” said RBC Capital Markets in a note to investors. The firm estimated that the price for the 3.45 GHz spectrum associated with the sale is 55 cents per MHz/POP, compared with the national average spectrum price of 77 cents during the 2022 auction. The C-band holdings are UScellular’s most valuable unsold band, RBC said, noting an average price of 94 cents MHz/PoP in the 2021 auction: “We view the remaining C-Band licenses as [complementary] to AT&T's and Verizon's holdings.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said during a Thursday Punchbowl News event he would prefer the chamber pursue a middle-ground between the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) and 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909) as a legislative package for renewing the FCC’s lapsed airwaves auction authority. He also voiced concerns about the Biden administration’s implementation of $65 billion in broadband money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, echoing criticisms congressional Republicans raised about how long it has taken for funded projects to come online.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will likely redirect the panel's airwaves legislative focus toward a version of his 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909) next year should Republicans control the Senate after the Nov. 5 elections and he becomes chairman. Cruz could face continued headwinds from DOD's staunchest Capitol Hill backers if he pursues legislation similar to S-3909, lobbyists and others predicted. Current Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., hopes she can attach her rival Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) to an end-of-year omnibus package (see 2409170066).
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, a member of his transition team and Elon Musk, X platform owner and SpaceX CEO, are repeating calls for broadcasters to lose their spectrum because their news broadcasts are too partisan.
Verizon in its Q3 earnings presentation Tuesday expanded its goals for fixed wireless subscribers and broadband offerings. “Our ambitious targets for fixed wireless access, combined with our fiber expansion including the planned Frontier acquisition, will bring unmatched broadband coverage to millions more homes and businesses nationwide,” said CEO Hans Vestburg in a release. Verizon’s total consolidated operating revenue in Q3 was $33.3 billion, “essentially flat compared to third-quarter 2023,” said an earnings release. Verizon said revenue growth was offset by declines in wireless equipment revenue in 2024. Vestburg said the company increased fixed wireless subscribers by nearly 57% as compared with Q3 2023, achieving 4.2 million subs 15 months earlier than expected. The company expects by 2028 to reach 8 million to 9 million fixed wireless subscribers and provide coverage to 90 million households. Verizon President-Global Networks and Technology Joe Russo said Tuesday that the expanded goals were not dependent on broadband, equity, access and deployment BEAD program funding. BEAD availability “won’t rock the boat,” added Vestburg. After its proposed acquisition of Frontier, Verizon will bring in an additional 9 million to 10 million fiber passings, and is aiming at reaching more than 30 million passings by 2028, Russo said. “Frontier’s consumer fiber network can be immediately and seamlessly integrated upon closing directly into Verizon’s award-winning Fios network,” the release said. Vestburg said Tuesday that he doesn’t anticipate M&A beyond the Frontier acquisition, and doesn’t expect big industry shakeups requiring large capital expenditures -- such as spectrum auctions -- anytime soon. “I don’t have visibility on anything like that at the moment."
The Biden administration is moving forward on the national spectrum strategy, in some cases more quickly than is widely recognized, Shiva Goel, NTIA senior spectrum adviser, told the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas last week. Goel’s comments build on the remarks of NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson at MWC (see 2410090045). “We're hard at work already on lower 3 and 7 and 8 [GHz],” Goel said. “We're bringing lower 37 [GHz] to a close” and “18 GHz is in full swing already, and then there's everything else.” Goel said DOD, which is working with NTIA on the lower 3 GHz study, hasn’t been “secretive” about its “preference for a … solution” based on dynamic spectrum sharing. “We're supporting” DOD “in building a demo of that capability,” but “that doesn't mean we can't also collaborate on other options for the band.” The strategy’s research and development plan is in its final stages, he said. On staffing, “we're getting the agencies together to spot gaps and ways to fill them to make sure we have people in government able to do this work far into the future.” Goel continued: “Our spectrum problems aren't getting any easier.” The relationship between NTIA and the FCC “is as good as I've ever seen it,” said Ira Keltz, the commission’s new acting chief engineer. The No. 1 priority is the proposed spectrum pipeline and the FCC’s Spectrum Steering Team, which he co-chairs, is hard at work, Keltz said. “We've got plenty of staff at the commission completely engaged in all the activities that are going on.” The top priorities are the lower 3 and 7.8 GHz studies, but the FCC is also focused on 37 GHz, he said. “There's still a ways to go” on the strategy, said Will Johnson, Verizon senior vice president-federal regulatory and legal affairs, “but there [are] also things to celebrate.” The wireless industry knows it will need about 1,500 MHz of mid-band spectrum over the next 10 years, and the pipeline “still remains fairly uncertain,” Johnson said: “We know some bands that are being studied. … But in terms of knowing which bands are actually going to make their way all the way through to commercial use, to auction, we're pretty far from having that kind of clarity at this point.” Luciana Camargos, GSMA head of spectrum, called for more leadership from the U.S. During the World Radiocommunication Conference last year, the U.S. message was that it didn’t want international mobile telecommunications in the 6 GHz band, but it failed to offer alternatives, Camargos said. The U.S. “didn't even support the new agenda item” looking at 4, 7 and 15 GHz, she said: “To me, that's very relevant. … If you don't support looking forward, how can you lead on this?” Keltz said the FCC understands wireless industry concerns about a spectrum pipeline. "We need high-powered dedicated spectrum," he said: "I think we need a little of everything. ... We need to make sure that our unlicensed industry has spectrum they can use." CTIA and GSMA co-sponsor MWC.
FCC Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks warned the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas that the FCC’s loss of general spectrum auction authority last year is hampering U.S. competitive efforts against major rivals in the 6G race. CTIA President Meredith Baker sounded a similar theme at the beginning of the conference, which CTIA sponsors with GSMA (see 2410080044).
NTIA remains “on track” to deliver on initial commitments under the national spectrum strategy that the Biden administration released in November (see 2311130048), NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. Davidson also defended the administration’s progress under the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, a recurring target of Republican criticism (see 2409270032).