U.S. AWS-3 Spectrum Auction Registers Massive Applications
The Federal Communications Commission (:FCC) recently revealed that its upcoming spectrum auction has received as many as 80 applications. The Advanced Wireless Services-3 (AWS-3) spectrum auction will be on Nov 13, 2014.
All together, 1,614 AWS-3 licenses will be up for auction in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands. These spectrum bands are highly useful for the deployment of 4G LTE services. The frequencies were earlier allocated to federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.
The Major bidders for this upcoming spectrum auction are Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), AT&T Inc. (T), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) and DISH Network Corp. (DISH). Meanwhile, FCC reported that out of the total, 47 applications are incomplete.
However, these companies will be allowed to resubmit complete applications by Oct. 15. The FCC will release the final list of qualified bidders by early Nov. The regulator expects to collect at least $10 billion from this round of airwaves auction.
Meanwhile, some industry researchers rumored that AWS-3 auction may pave way for a merger between the nation’s fourth largest telecom operator T-Mobile US and second largest satellite TV operator DISH Network.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that DISH is in talks with Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile US, about a possible merger and may seriously pursue the deal after the completion of the AWS-3 spectrum auction.
Notably, DISH currently has 50MHz of spectrum of which 40 MHz are in the AWS-4 (2000/2200 MHz) band and the remaining 10 MHz in the H-band. AWS-3 spectrum ownership will enable the company to interoperate LTE service AWS-1 (1700/2100 MHz) spectrum band.
On the other hand, T-Mobile US has already started deploying LTE service AWS-1 spectrum. Winning some AWS-3 spectrum will give the company more bandwidth to expand its LTE network.
Finally, if T-Mobile US can merge with DISH, the joint entity will boast a significant bandwidth portfolio on all AWS-1, 3, 4 as well as H-band spectrums. The joint entity will be able to deploy high quality LTE services like extremely fast video delivery and enhanced application download and upload speeds.
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