Spectrum auctions and deals reveal demand for capacity

[Commentary] One of the loudest signals wireless carriers in the market sent this year is: carriers want spectrum, and they are willing to pay huge amounts of money to get it.

This demand has been most vividly illustrated in the ongoing AWS-3 spectrum auction, but is also evident elsewhere. And though it has been delayed until 2016, many believe the Federal Communications Commission's planned auction of TV broadcasters' 600 MHz licenses could generate even more money, due to that band's more favorable propagation characteristics. Spectrum has always been a sought-after item in the wireless industry, but the AWS-3 auction indicates that carriers are ravenous for capacity -- and that they don't think that they will get another opportunity to add such large amounts of spectrum to their reserves anytime soon.

[Dec 24]