Don't Delay Incentive Auction, T-Mobile CEO Tells FCC Commissioners

The FCC should hold the TV incentive auction as planned next year, T-Mobile CEO John Legere told commissioners in meetings last week, said an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 12-269. Legere met with all five FCC members, as well as key wireless staffers, the filing said. Legere “discussed the impact T-Mobile has had on competition in the industry for the benefit of consumers” and the importance of low-band spectrum, the filing said. Delaying the incentive auction “would only benefit AT&T and Verizon, which hold approximately 73 percent of the low-band spectrum today,” he said. T-Mobile needs low-band spectrum to compete against AT&T and Verizon, Legere argued. The timing of the auction has been in question, with commissioners saying at CES that they support a pause (see 1501120046). Industry officials tell us a 2016 auction works to T-Mobile's advantage because the spectrum aggregation rules approved for the auction limit buys by AT&T and Verizon, which could be changed under another administration.