NewStreet Research Lowers 2.5 GHz Auction Expectations by 80 Percent

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

NewStreet Research (NSR) analysts say their initial thoughts on how much money Auction 108 would make were too high. They’ve since cut their estimate by some 80 percent to a maximum of $750 million. Calling demand for the 2.5 GHz licenses “abysmal,” Philip Burnett, part of NSR’s U.S. Telecoms Team, said in a client note that, as of round 13, only 24 percent of the more than 8,000 licenses being auctioned were seeing competition. “Excess demand has fallen to a level not seen until after round 40 in both of the last two mid-band auctions,” he wrote. Continue Reading