T-Mobile: FCC's tentative AWS-3 spectrum auction rules favor Verizon, AT&T

T-Mobile US warned the Federal Communications Commission not to structure the upcoming AWS-3 spectrum auction in such a way that it would tilt the playing field toward AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

AT&T recently praised a tentative, but not final, license structure and band plan for the auction. The back and forth highlights the importance of the auction and also how the carriers are going to continue to fight over spectrum policy and auction design for months to come.

The AWS-3 auction fight is notable in light of the fact that T-Mobile has lobbied for years for the FCC and other federal agencies to cobble together the spectrum that will be auctioned. Kathleen Ham, vice president of federal regulatory affairs at T-Mobile, wrote that the FCC should auction AWS-3 spectrum in 5x5 MHz blocks to "ensure the auction does not become a playing field for only Verizon and AT&T."