December 2016

The US government’s massive airwaves auction again failed to move forward Dec 5 after a single two-hour round of bidding didn’t generate enough demand. The complex process will now move into its fourth stage with another cut to the supply of available licenses, and the auction which kicked off in May likely won’t conclude until 2017. This is the third time the FCC hasn’t drawn enough interest from cellphone operators like AT&T, Verizon Communications, and Comcast in buying the licenses for airwaves now used by television broadcasters. FCC officials have said the auction is designed to run multiple rounds. The FCC will now go back to television broadcasters for a fourth time, cutting the number of licenses it will buy from stations while also likely reducing the price the agency pays for those it does acquire.

T-Mobile US CFO Braxton Carter cheered the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, arguing that less regulation—including the dismantling of the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules—and less onerous corporate taxes would be “positive for my industry.” However, Carter declined to address a potential merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, a transaction that industry observers have speculated may be possible under a Trump White House. “It’s hard to imagine, with the way the election turned out, that we’re not going to have an environment, from several aspects, that is not going to be more positive for my industry,” Carter said. “I think that it’s very clear that there’s going to be less regulation. And less regulation—regulation often destroys innovation and value creation.”