T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ:TMUS), the third largest U.S. national wireless operator, has confirmed the deployment of 600 MHz wireless spectrum by the end of 2017. The company aims to cover 1 million-plus square miles of the country with this service.
Notably, the company laid out its plans in an ex-parte filing with the U.S. telecom regulator, Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
In Apr 2017, FCC declared the names of the winning bidders for its latest 600 MHz low-band wireless spectrum auction, popularly known as Incentive Auction. The company was one of them. In fact, the auction raised around $19.8 billion from 50 bidders who won nearly 2,800 licenses in total.
T-Mobile US acquired the largest portion (nearly 45%) of the available spectrums by offering a sum of nearly $8 billion. The company won 1,525 licenses and bought around 31 MHz of spectrums in the 600 MHz low-band frequencies.
U.S. telecom giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) took the fourth place after acquiring 23 licenses for a total bid price of over $910 million. Surprisingly, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), the largest U.S. telecom operator, did not bid for the 600 MHz low-band spectrum despite registering itself for the bidding process. Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) did not take part in the auction process altogether.
It should be noted that low-band spectrum is essential for wireless operators as the signals can be transmitted over longer distances and through brick-and-mortar walls in cities. Therefore, T-Mobile US believes that its innovative network expansion methodologies are driving substantial consumer growth.
The company reported in June that it has already started laying the groundwork for 600 MHz deployments, but, the availability of the spectrum is dependent on the speed of the broadcast transition.
However, T-Mobile mentioned in the recent filing that it’s working with broadcasters to keep the 600 MHz relocation on schedule. Also, the company has agreed to invest in broadcast equipment manufacturing capacity, installation resources, help for low-power TV stations and support for TV translator licenses to start the deployment as soon as possible.