A few days ago we wrote how Verizon’s proposed sale of its 700 MHz A and B spectrum licenses weren’t valuable. The largest wireless provider in the United States has being trying to woo the FCC into an approval of its acquisition of AWS spectrum it had attained from a consortium of cable operators, which includes Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Well, T-Mobile boss Philipp Humm has expressed not only his disapproval of VZW’s proposed sale of spectrum, but its acquisition of AWS spectrum from cable companies.
Last week, Humm along with other company execs had a meeting with Rick Kaplan, the chief of the FCC’s wireless bureau. In that meeting, T-Mobile pointed out how Verizon hasn’t used any of its AWS spectrum in the last six years. They also added that if Big Red is given more spectrum “ … It would make no sense, and would be inconsistent with the commission’s charge to ensure that spectrum transfers serve the public interest, to allow Verizon to acquire additional AWS licenses, especially at this time of an industry wide spectrum crunch.” Furthermore, T-Mobile urged the FCC to consider the fact that handing more AWS spectrum to Verizon would harm competitors looking to deploy LTE.
Honestly, it’s hard to disagree with T-Mobile’s stance on this, as it would definitely effect Sprint and T-Mobile’s 4G LTE expansion. That said, you can’t blame Big Red for trying to cannibalize its competition by taking as much spectrum from private companies as it can. The reality is, all wireless providers are battling for small amounts of spectrum, while the government continues to sit on more than half of the spectrum available — something needs to change.
[via FierceWireless]