T-Mobile Dominates 2.5 GHz Auction; Other Major Carriers Come Away With Few Licenses

T-Mobile, as expected, dominated the 2.5 GHz auction (see 2208300021), winning 7,156 licenses for $304.3 million, covering 2,724 counties, the FCC announced Thursday. But T-Mobile wasn’t the only bidder -- the FCC said 63 bidders won a total of 7,872 licenses. The auction had gross proceeds of $427.8 million. Among other large carriers, Cellular South bid $11.9 million for 38 licenses. Verizon won nine licenses for $1.5 million. AT&T and Dish Network didn’t get any licenses. AT&T had made an upfront payment of only $1,000, versus $20 million by Verizon and $25,000 by Dish. PTI Pacifica was the second-highest bidder, at $17.7 million. TeleGuam Holdings bid $16.6 million for the mid-band spectrum. By number of licenses won, the No. 2 bidder was North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, with 107, followed by Evergy Kansas Central with 54. “This really was T-Mobile’s auction,” Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner told us: “Everyone else either got the scraps that T-Mobile didn’t want or watched how it unfolded.” Down payments by winning bidders are due Sept. 16, final payments Sept. 30, the agency said. The FCC’s auction authority expires Sept. 30, absent action by Congress. “With most of the available spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band located in rural areas, this auction provides vital spectrum resources to support wireless services in rural communities,” the FCC said.