Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile walked away with the vast majority of the C-band licenses up for grabs in the FCC's blockbuster midband spectrum auction.
As expected, Verizon spent the most: a whopping $45.5 billion for around 3,500 total licenses. According to the financial analysts at Evercore, Verizon acquired an average of 160MHz of spectrum across the entire US. The operator announced a $25 billion loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank to help pay for the licenses.
AT&T came in second by spending $23.4 billion for 1,621 licenses. According to Evercore, AT&T netted 80MHz in 95% of the country, with the remainder split between 60MHz and 100MHz. T-Mobile, meanwhile, spent $9.3 billion for 142 licenses, which cover around 68% of the US population.
Comcast and Charter, bidding jointly, spent nothing. In fact, the companies didn't even place any bids. Dish Network spent just $2.5 million for the license covering Cheyenne, Wyoming.
As for the valuable A Block C-band licenses, which ought to be available toward the end of this year, Verizon won most of those. The operator walked away with around 60% of those licenses, according to Evercore, while AT&T walked away with around 40%. The other B and C Block licenses generally won't be available until 2023.
There were a few surprises, though. Private equity company Grain Management spent $1.3 billion, while Canopy Spectrum spent $172 million. As Light Reading previously reported, Canopy is a venture between Jennifer Fritzsche (a former Wells Fargo analyst) and Edward Moise Jr. (a longtime spectrum investor).
Table 1: The full results of the FCC's C-band spectrum auction
| Company |
Bidding entity |
Net Payment |
| Verizon |
Cellco Partnership |
$45,454,843,197 |
| AT&T |
AT&T Spectrum Frontiers LLC |
$23,406,860,839 |
| T-Mobile |
T-Mobile License LLC |
$9,336,125,147 |
| UScellular |
United States Cellular Corporation |
$1,282,641,542 |
| Grain Management (private equity) |
NewLevel II, L.P |
$1,277,395,688 |
| Canopy Spectrum |
Canopy Spectrum, LLC |
$172,021,760 |
| C Spire |
Cellular South Licenses, LLC |
$49,850,284 |
| Widespread Wireless |
Widespread Wireless, LLC |
$48,455,001 |
| Pioneer Telephone Cooperative |
Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc |
$20,104,200 |
| Carolina West Wireless |
Carolina West Wireless, Inc |
$15,780,658 |
| Nex-Tech |
Nex-Tech Wireless, L.L.C. |
$10,339,437 |
| East Kentucky Network |
East Kentucky Network, LLC |
$7,374,390 |
| Horry Telephone Cooperative |
Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc |
$6,492,586 |
| Smith Bagley |
Smith Bagley, Inc |
$5,640,183 |
| Nsight |
Nsight Spectrum, LLC |
$5,424,123 |
| LICT Wireless |
LICT Wireless Broadband Company, LLC |
$4,267,485 |
| Agri-Valley Communications |
Agri-Valley Communications |
$4,178,141 |
| Union Wireless |
Union Telephone Company |
$2,655,060 |
| Dish Network |
Little Bear Wireless L.L.C. |
$2,510,020 |
| Grand River Communications, Inc. |
Grand River Communications, Inc. |
$1,351,670 |
| Granite Wireless |
Granite Wireless LLC |
$170,510 |
As expected, top winners are already scheduling analyst days to discuss their new C-band strategies. T-Mobile will host a three-hour analyst day on March 11 at 2PM ET, while Verizon will host its own analyst day on March 10 at 6PM ET.
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— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano
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