CCA Won't Take Stand on T-Mobile/Sprint; Spectrum in Focus

ORLANDO -- Competitive Carrier Association executives expressed some concerns about T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint, on a Wednesday panel at the group's annual convention. Members remain very focused on spectrum, including high band and the 3.5 GHz band, said CCA President Steve Berry, speaking to members. Spectrum remains a big issue, the executives agreed.

T-Mobile and Sprint are the largest members of CCA, but the group hasn’t endorsed or opposed the deal. “The board has instructed us not to take a position, to file in the proceeding,” Berry told us. “There’s a lot of discussion about it.” Many members work closely with Sprint in particular, he said

“Most of feel like Sprint is an easier company to work with than T-Mobile,” said Patrick Riordan, chief strategy officer at Nsight. “A lot of us have had a chance to work with Sprint and none of us decided to go with T-Mobile.”

That “there will be one less competitor” is the positive from the deal, said Ron Smith, president of Bluegrass Cellular. But Smith said Sprint has been “very friendly” as a roaming partner. The “major concern” on the deal is roaming, he said.

Also getting lots of discussion was the citizens broadband radio service band. Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated proposed changes on CBRS rules (see 1810020050). “We hope that our input and collective efforts will prove positive for our members,” Berry said of the 3.5 GHz band. “Rest assured, we will keep a close eye on that.”

The FCC was right to extend the Mobility Fund II challenge process by 90 days, Berry said: The MF-II challenge process will mean “tens of millions of dollars” to CCA members. MF-II will be a continuing focus of CCA, he said. Members said it's unclear when the FCC will hold a reverse auction in the MF-II program, but it's unlikely until late next year.

CCA is also pleased with FCC work on wireless infrastructure revisions, Berry said: “We have spent a lot of resources and effort and time,” on infrastructure. CCA was on the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, he noted. “There will be challenges ahead but we are on a trajectory to get to the 5G world.”

“Use cases need to spread, particularly IoT needs to work everywhere,” said Ken Borner, ATN International senior vice president-engineering. “That said, nobody would have envisioned before we built 4G networks the applications today.”

Carolina West Wireless is sitting on lots of spectrum, said Chief Technology Officer David Zylka. There will be “a lot of noise” around mid- and low-band spectrum and his company will take a look at all upcoming auctions and whether they make sense, he said. “Our biggest fear is getting locked out of an auction or not having enough resources to bid and gain the spectrum we need.”