Spectrum

Verizon scored another win on the spectrum front, securing early approval from US federal antitrust authorities to move ahead with plans to acquire 28 GHz spectrum from NextLink Wireless. A brief note posted on the Federal Trade Commission's website indicated federal regulators granted Verizon early termination of the waiting period implemented on deals under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. That means the carrier now has the green light to proceed with its NextLink transaction.

The issue of license transfer from NextLink to Verizon is now before the Federal Communications Commission. Back in February, Verizon wrapped up its deal to acquire fiber assets from XO Communications. But that transaction also included an agreement to lease millimeter wave wireless spectrum from XO affiliate NextLink Wireless, with the option to buy “under certain circumstances.” And it seems Verizon was eager to get the ball rolling on a NextLink acquisition. NextLink gives Verizon access to a significant number of 28 GHz spectrum licenses in and around major cities across the country, including New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington (DC), Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Miami, and Portland.

What’s the next Wi-Fi frontier? And how can we tap into it for public good? A key band of airwaves that companies are seeking is the unused spectrum in lower frequencies that sit between TV channels. The spectrum in the gaps between bands of airwaves reserved for broadcast television offers prime real estate for companies seeking to bolster connectivity. Those unused bands of airwaves, known as “TV white spaces” (TVWS), are a target for Microsoft in particular. The company recently introduced a program to bring free Internet access to rural families to help bridge the “homework gap” in Charlotte and Halifax counties in southern Virginia.

In 2016, New America’s Open Technology Institute also urged the Federal Communications Commission to allow schools to leverage TVWS to give students lacking broadband at home remote access to the school’s high-capacity broadband, which would be subsidized by the federal E-Rate program.

Licensed spectrum remains perhaps the most important building block in the wireless industry. As a result, nationwide carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are eager to both obtain suitable spectrum holdings across the country, and to use those spectrum licenses in the most effective way possible. But where exactly do these nationwide carriers own spectrum? And what type of spectrum do they own? And how much?

To answer these questions, FierceWireless has once again partnered with Allnet Insights & Analytics, a wireless spectrum research and analysis firm, to map out exactly how much spectrum each of the four Tier 1 nationwide US wireless carriers currently owns. Also included in this list is Dish Network, which for the past several years has been quietly accumulating a war chest of spectrum that today almost rivals that of T-Mobile. These maps and charts include all pending spectrum transactions filed before April 30, 2017 (the FCC reviews all license spectrum transactions). Importantly, these maps and charts also include the results of the FCC’s recently completed incentive auction of TV broadcasters’ unwanted 600 MHz licenses. For complete details on the results of that auction, click here. Allnet Insights' data also includes the spectrum AT&T is getting access to through its partnership with FirstNet.