Wireless companies shelled out billions of dollars to fix this 5G problem

Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T held events to update investors and analysts on spectrum auction results, and laid out plans for expanding their 5G networks. There is "no question" the carriers' new spectrum holdings will improve consumers' experience of using 5G, said Craig Moffett, founding partner and analyst at MoffettNathanson. But the carriers largely expect it will take several years to put the new spectrum to use. This spectrum auction helps the carriers, especially AT&T and Verizon, fill a key gap in their 5G networks. Three categories of spectrum are used to build 5G networks. High-band, or "millimeter wave," networks provide blindingly fast speeds but limited geographic coverage. For that reason, it only makes sense for carriers to build high-band networks in densely populated areas like cities and airports, where many cell sites can be installed close to each other." Low-band spectrum provides much broader coverage, making it effective for use in nationwide 5G networks, but data speeds are only marginally faster than on 4G LTE. Mid-band is the "Goldilocks" spectrum that balances speed and coverage, which has largely been lacking in US 5G networks until now. Carriers bid on mid-band spectrum in the latest auction, and it didn't come cheap.

• Verizon spent $52.9 billion to more than double its mid-band spectrum holdings. The company plans to allocate $10 billion more in capital expenditures over the next three years, on top of its existing spending plans, to put the new spectrum to use.
• AT&T bid $27.4 billion to bolster its mid-band holdings, and expects to spend between $6 billion and $8 billion in additional capital from 2022 to 2024 on the mid-band network buildout.
• T-Mobile had an advantage coming into the auction: a significant amount of mid-band spectrum already in its portfolio, thanks to its $26 billion acquisition of Sprint. As a result, T-Mobile spent just $9.3 billion to fill select gaps in its network.