T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said in September that the nation’s second-largest wireless provider had already put up some of the radios for the new spectrum. “And when we get those licenses, we can turn all that spectrum on affecting 50 million people within two days,” Sievert noted. That’s 31 million shy of the total covered by the new spectrum which means that the carrier will need to cut some checks made payable to Nokia and Ericsson who are T-Mobile‘s largest 5G radio suppliers.
T-Mobile will cover 81 million more Americans with 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum
The 7,156 licenses were won by T-Mobile during FCC Auction 108 which consisted of 2.5GHz spectrum. The FCC had to wait for new legislation allowing it to regain its congressional auction authority before it turned the licenses covering the spectrum over to T-Mobile.
According to investment bank Raymond James, “The potential share issuance had been an overhang on the stock and created an artificial ceiling for a while, and we believe some investors had been automatically and systematically shorting the stock as it had approached the ~$150 trading level at various times. We feel this artificial ceiling for the stock had frustrated many investors, though it also allowed the company to repurchase stock at lower prices.”
Sure enough, over the last month, T-Mobile‘s shares have risen 5.96% and have cleared that $150 area where the pros had been selling the stock. T-Mobile‘s shares closed today at $161.91, up $1.58 or .99%.
