Spectrum

The Department of Justice believes three national 5G wireless providers are needed to ensure robust competition, a position that provides a big boost to the proposed $26.5 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. The No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers have said they don’t have the finances independently to quickly bankroll an expensive rollout of the next generation in wireless technology — leaving just Verizon and AT&T to offer a 5G network.

A looming Federal Communications Commission deadline could spur telecom companies to hurry up deal talks before restrictions on their discussions tie their hands. The FCC said in a public notice that it would stop accepting applications on Sept. 18 for two planned wireless-airwave auctions in 2018. Rules bar applicants from talking with each other from that date until the second auction ends and its winners make their down payments.

Dish’s Charlie Ergen said that the Federal Communications Commission should support his company’s efforts to build out a 5G wireless network because it would aid the United States’ technological position on the global stage. "The goal that they [at the FCC] have—to help the United States be the No. 1 in 5G—and the goal that we have at Dish, is exactly the same,” Ergen said. “And so we're very pleased with that.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to implement a recent Congressional directive to reimburse certain Low Power TV (LPTV), TV translator, and FM stations for costs incurred as a result of the FCC’s incentive auction.

Auction procedures to speed the deployment of 5G services in the 28 GHz (27.5-28.35 GHz) and 24 GHz (24.25-24.45, 24.75-25.25 GHz) bands. The FCC will offer the 28 GHz and 24 GHz band licenses through two auctions with separate application and bidding processes for each auction. The application windows will run concurrently. The bidding for the 28 GHz UMFUS licenses (Auction 101) will commence on November 14, 2018, and the bidding for the 24 GHz licenses (Auction 102) will commence after the bidding concludes in Auction 101.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed next steps to prepare the upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands for auction. In particular, auctioning the 39 GHz and upper 37 GHz bands together presents a critical opportunity for 5G deployment as it represents the largest amount of contiguous spectrum available in the millimeter-wave bands.

Sprint and T-Mobile filed their S-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. An S-4 is a filing that details a business combination or exchange offer and includes details such as share distribution, amounts, terms and other information relating to the transaction. Included in the S-4 from Sprint and T-Mobile is a lengthy and detailed timeline about how the companies finally reached their April merger agreement.

Poring through hundreds of pages of documents submitted to the government by T-Mobile and Sprint and transcripts of testimony in front of Congress makes it clear that going from four competitors to three — AT&T, Verizon and a combined T-Mobile-Sprint — wouldn’t pose the problems that so many fear.

Every textbook would say that fewer competitors results in high prices. But if the Sprint-T-Mobile deal was given the green light, it would almost empirically create, at least in the short term, more competition for AT&T and Verizon, not less.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, August 2, 2018:

Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD) is eying ways to combine his STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act, S.