AT&T asks the FCC to block T-Mobile from adding to its holdings of mid-band spectrum
T-Mobile’s 5G triple-layer cake has given it the early lead in 5G
By applying the spectrum screen, as it did for high-band and low-band spectrum, the FCC can determine whether purchases of mid-band spectrum could “cause competitive harm by allowing a licensee to hold so much mid-band spectrum in a given market that it becomes impossible for others to compete effectively.” The screening does not place a cap on the amount of mid-band spectrum a carrier can own and instead screens for acquisitions that would result in a single entity holding more than 33% of relevant frequencies in a single market.
The purchase of Sprint by T-Mobile was a huge strategic move giving the carrier a huge advantage over its rivals
T-Mobile has been talking about its Triple Layer Cake for 5G service which combines low-band, mid-band, and high-band spectrum. And while Verizon spent $45.4 billion and AT&T $23.4 billion on mid-band spectrum in the C-band, it turns out that T-Mobile’s 2.5GHz mid-band signals travel 1.5 times farther.
Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s president of technology, said earlier this year that “Simply put, Verizon and AT&T bet on the wrong horse — went all-in on millimeter-wave — and now they’re scrambling … and writing big checks … to try to catch up. Meanwhile, we’re on track to deploy Ultra Capacity 5G nationwide before they can even get their hands on C-Band.”
To show you how things have changed in the U.S. wireless industry, before the 600MHz low-band auction in 2017, T-Mobile argued that larger carriers like Verizon should be limited in bidding for the spectrum.
