Auctions

Perhaps the biggest news of the week was the agenda for the Federal Communications Commission's July 10 Open Meeting, which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai laid out in a blog post on June 18, 2019. I'm traveling to New York this week; below is a shorter-than-usual weekly that takes a look at how Chairman Pai plans to take education out of the Educational Broadband Service -- and broadcast television.

On October 25, 2018, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum ordering federal agencies to review their existing spectrum usage, forecast future demands, and prepare a plan for research and development that will enable better use of spectrum in the future.

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking further comment on the 5G Fund for Rural America to reignite the FCC's plan to expand the deployment of 5G service to rural communities that remain trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) supports Dish Network’s request for more time to buy 800 MHz spectrum licenses from T-Mobile but says seven more months is sufficient rather than the ten months that Dish had requested. In a September 18 filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the DoJ said a modest extension of the deadline for Dish to acquire the spectrum licenses will serve the competition goals of the final judgment that enabled Sprint to merge with T-Mobile. The DoJ referred back to a 2013 petition that T-Mobile filed with the Federal Communications Commission when

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement (SALE) Act to require the Federal Communications Commission to release previously auctioned spectrum in order to expand 5G broadband access to rural communities. The legislation would temporarily grant the FCC auction authority so that it may complete spectrum transfers and allow broadband services to provide 5G network coverage to Americans in rural areas. Kennedy’s legislation would grant the FCC a one-time, temporary authority to issue licenses purchased in auctions that were held before March 9, 2023

T-Mobile won thousands of 2.5GHz spectrum licenses around the US in a Federal Communications Commission auction that ended in 2022. But the FCC would face "criminal penalties" if it gave T-Mobile its 2.5GHz license winnings. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel explained that the FCC's "auction authority" expired in March and so far has not been renewed by Congress, which means the agency no longer has the regulatory authority to issue spectrum licenses.

On August 14, Sens Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Thune (R-SD) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel with concerns about the FCC’s failure to grant approximately 90% of licenses won in the 2496-2690 MHz (“2.5 GHz”) auction.

The $14.2 billion allocated to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is projected to run out by mid-2024. With the options running thin, there may be a potential source of funding for the ACP for Congress to consider—only this time, it’s intricately connected to the US spectrum auctions that were formerly under Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction.

To maintain American leadership in the global 5G economy, the wireless industry must keep deploying more spectrum for consumers. It’s as simple as that. At T-Mobile, we have a record of putting our spectrum to good use quickly, now covering 326 million Americans with 5G service, 285 million of whom are covered by Ultra Capacity 5G. But in 2023, the government has not been doing its part to keep the pipeline flowing and action is needed. In 2022, the Federal Communication Commission completed Auction 108.

AT&T, which was the second biggest spender in the Federal Communications Commission's C-band auction in 2021, is taking advantage of the satellite companies’ early clearing of the band to access its full C-band spectrum holdings. AT&T has been deploying a combination of C-band and 3.45 GHz across the country, with its 5G network mid-band network now covering more than 175 million people. AT&T’s nationwide 5G network, which includes low-band spectrum, covers about 290 million people. AT&T said it’s now doubling its available C-band spectrum for deployment.