C-Band Auction Could Raise $35 Billion, With Verizon Aggressive, Citi Analyst Says

The C-band auction set to start Tuesday is expected to bring in $35 billion, with Verizon likely an aggressive bidder and AT&T and T-Mobile active, Citi analyst Michael Rollins wrote investors Thursday. T-Mobile is presumably focused on spectrum below 6 GHz and might want at least 61 MHz of the band, he said. Comcast's and Charter Communications' expanded and extended mobile virtual network operation with Verizon could mean they take an opportunistic approach to buying a national slice of the band, he said. Dish Network might take part, but any incremental spectrum purchases will increase the company’s already big funding needs to build a national 5G network, he said. He said Dish's growing capital needs for its wireless strategy could lead to it trying to monetize its video business and tee up combining with DirecTV, he said. TDS and UScellular will likely seek at least 60 MHz in its current footprint, he said.