WCO Spectrum has $1 billion in active offers to buy 2.5 GHz spectrum

The private investment company WCO Spectrum has been a thorn in the side of T-Mobile for the past year or more. WCO has been reaching out to educational institutions that own 2.5 GHz licenses and who lease that spectrum to T-Mobile. The investment firm has been offering to purchase those licenses, while T-Mobile has fought these transactions tooth and nail. WCO Managing Partner Carl Katerndahl said WCO has been involved in 13 transactions, but T-Mobile used its right-of-first-refusal to buy the spectrum in 10 of the deals. In two cases T-Mobile sued schools to block their sale of spectrum to WCO. There is only one deal in which WCO might finally succeed in buying a 2.5 GHz spectrum license that is leased to T-Mobile. That’s a deal with Owasso public school district, one of the largest school districts in the state of Oklahoma — as reported by Light Reading. Katerndahl said the total value of the 10 deals where T-Mobile exercised its right-of-first-refusal amounted to about $450 million. “That goes to the schools,” he said. He seems proud that WCO’s involvement is causing T-Mobile to probably pay more for these licenses than it would have if there weren’t a competitor vying for the spectrum.