T-Mobile strikes 600 MHz spectrum leases in 8 out of 10 top markets

T-Mobile has applied for instant spectrum leases with Channel 51 License Company and LB License Co. to lease 600 MHz spectrum in a number of major markets, including Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle, among others. Currently, these companies are lending 600 MHz spectrum to T-Mobile to help the carrier boost its network during the Covid-19 pandemic. The parties have filed their application with the Federal Communications Commission, and if granted, the leases would exist until February 28, 2023. T-Mobile said in the filing that the leasing arrangements will yield public interest benefits, enabling it to provide 5G wireless services “in several large US markets, including eight of the country’s top 10.” The leasing arrangements will put T-Mobile over the spectrum ownership maximum amounts in a small percentage of counties in Dallas and Chicago. But it argues that immediate access to between 10 MHz and 30 MHz of additional 600 MHz spectrum for up to three years “will promote the objective of T-Mobile’s rapid buildout of its 5G network in the exact same manner as access to the 600 MHz licenses that Dish has agreed to negotiate in good faith to lease to T-Mobile.”