Although their target customers differ, both Anterix and NextNav are hoping to leverage their 900MHz holdings for growth. Both companies also have new CEOs and new proposals at the FCC.
NextNav and Anterix both own tiny slivers of the 900MHz band, and both sport relatively new leadership. And both are expressing optimism about the future.
"It is truly an honor to be leading this great organization, and I'm excited with all that lies ahead for the company," said Anterix CEO Scott Lang on the company's latest earnings call. Lang replaces Rob Schwartz, who stepped down from his Anterix CEO position just last month.
"This is an exciting time for our business," echoed NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond. Sorond previously worked at VMware, CableLabs and Dish Network, and was named NextNav's new CEO last year.
Anterix and NextNav are targeting significantly different groups of customers with their respective spectrum holdings. NextNav is pursuing an ambitious plan to repurpose its 900MHz holdings as an alternative to GPS location technology – as well as potentially a supplement for 5G networks. Anterix, meanwhile, has been working to sell or lease its own 900MHz holdings to utility companies.
Interestingly, both NextNav and Anterix are hoping the incoming Trump administration will smile on their latest spectrum proposals.
NextNav
Earlier this year, NextNav asked the FCC to reconfigure a sliver of its 900MHz holdings to support positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services and 5G. The company said this would create an alternative to critical GPS signals that could be hacked by US adversaries.
NextNav's proposal is now wending its way through the FCC. And it's garnering plenty of comments.
"Based on the overwhelming opposition due to the potential harm posed by the approval of the NextNav petition, and how NetNav's insufficient detail to address those potential harms, we respectfully request that the FCC dismiss the NextNav petition," wrote a large number of trade associations and commercial industry groups in a new filing to the FCC. Among the groups signing the filing: Airlines for America, American Petroleum Institute, Enterprise Wireless Alliance, Idaho Trucking Association, Incompas, LoRa Alliance, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), Wi-Fi Alliance and Utilities Technology Council.
But, on NextNav's recent earnings call, Sorond waved off that opposition. "There were no real surprises or showstoppers," she said of hundreds of filings on the topic.
Sorond also said that the incoming Trump administration – and specifically FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Trump's anticipated choice to lead the FCC – may approve NextNav's proposal.
"I think the need for a backup in complement to GPS is a completely bipartisan issue, both Democrats and Republicans care about national security and public safety," she said.
Anterix
For years, Anterix has been working to sell or lease its spectrum to US utility companies. And it has gained some noteworthy customers so far: Ameren, San Diego Gas & Electric and Xcel Energy among them.
But Lang, Anterix's new CEO, said he's working to revamp the company's sales process in order to scare up more opportunities.
"We are revisiting every element of our sales process. A key priority of mine is to expand relationships with both existing and prospective customers. Our strong customer base represents a powerful opportunity to advocate for our technology and enhance our brand visibility within the industry," he explained.
Like NextNav, Anterix also has a proposal before the FCC to expand possible 900MHz deployments from a 3/3MHz design to a more capable 5/5MHz design.
Already FCC Commissioner Carr has voted to approve early Anterix proposals.
"And I believe we will very likely get the support of Commissioner Carr [for the 5/5 MHz proposal] if he moves into the acting chair and ultimately the chair role," said Chris Guttman-McCabe, Anterix's top executive in Washington and a former official with the wireless industry's CTIA trade association.
The context
Anterix and NextNav aren't the only companies working to generate interest in their spectrum holdings. Indeed, Verizon's new $1 billion spectrum purchase from UScellular again highlights the value of such holdings.
But other spectrum transactions haven't materialized.
For example, T-Mobile this summer conducted an auction of its 13.5MHz nationwide chunk of 800MHz spectrum, with a $3.6 billion minimum bid, after EchoStar's Dish Network dropped plans to purchase the licenses. But T-Mobile officials recently said no bidder qualified to purchase the spectrum, thereby leaving it with T-Mobile.
That's noteworthy considering T-Mobile previously identified engineering giant Burns & McDonnell as a potential buyer of its 800MHz holdings. In a court filing, Burns & McDonnell said it could purchase the spectrum in order to sell it to its utility customers and others.
T-Mobile officials said the company has yet to decide whether to use that 800MHz spectrum in its network or sell it.
Article updated November 18 to correct Anterix customer list.
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