Which Carrier is Likely to Benefit the Most From 2.5 GHz Auction?

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau ChiefUPDATE Inside Towers reported the FCC intends to open the 2.5 GHz auction for 5G wireless services bidding on July 29. The agency confirmed it will use an ascending clock format, a format favored by T-Mobile, according to New Street Research Policy Advisor Blair Levin.   

Levin says T-Mobile is likely to be the major winner, because the auction “will allow the company to fix the ‘Swiss Cheese’ problem its 2.5GHz network grid is known to suffer from,” he writes in a client report. How much T-Mobile will have to spend to accomplish that goal is unknown. However, he says the Commission lowered what the final amount will be by adopting a plan to use the ascending clock format T-Mobile favors instead of a single sealed bid auction, an auction design favored by some smaller players. Continue Reading