T-Mobile US has asked the FCC to disqualify Verizon from bidding for reserve spectrum in 12 markets in next year’s incentive auction.
T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) has asked the FCC to disqualify Verizon (NYSE:VZ) from bidding for reserve spectrum in 12 markets in next year’s incentive auction.
In a letter to the FCC, T-Mobile, advised by Hogan Lovells, contended that the FCC had incorrectly identified Verizon as eligible for reserve spectrum in markets in states including Oklahoma, Texas, Massachusetts, Montana, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah and Nebraska.
“Confirming the accuracy of the reserve eligibility list will help achieve the important public interest goal of protecting against excessive concentration of low-band spectrum holdings by the nation’s dominant wireless providers while ensuring competitive bidding,” the carrier said.
T-Mobile, the country’s third largest mobile player, said Verizon already has an interest in more than a third of the suitable and available low-band spectrum in these markets and is therefore ineligible for the spectrum reserve.
The move comes about three weeks after, T-Mobile, whose CEO John Legere (pictured) has said intends to “bid aggressively” in the incentive auction, called on the FCC to stop DTH player Dish Network and its designated entities from bidding for their recently-surrendered AWS spectrum.
The FCC has set aside up to 30 MHz of 60 0Mz spectrum in a given market for smaller players. However, its list of reserve-eligible nationwide service providers for each Partial Economic Area (PEA), published last month, showed that T-Mobile and Sprint can bid on reserve spectrum in all 416 areas. AT&T can bid in 242 areas and Verizon in 112.
In its letter, T-Mobile noted that it may yet submit additional “corrections” to the FCC’s reserve eligibility list.
AT&T has indicated that it will take part in the incentive auction, set to begin on 29 March 2016, Verizon has said it may participate – identifying the 600 MHz airwaves as nice to have rather than essential – and cash-strapped Sprint plans to abstain.
Last week, billionaire entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya said his new company Rama intends to spend up to US$40bn in the auction as part of plans to take on the incumbents.
