Wireless Spectrum Investments Contribute to AT&T’s to Retreat from Media Aspirations

Discovery deal announcement[1] ends AT&T’s designs on a vertically integrated media and distribution empire. It unravels years of deal-making under the leadership of former CEO Randall Stephenson less than a year after his retirement. This deal follows the $16 billion spin-off in February of AT&T’s video distribution assets, including DirecTV, U-Verse video, and streaming service…

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Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Catalyze a Margin Opportunity for U.S. Wireless?

The three major U.S. wireless carriers have scheduled special events starting today (Wednesday, March 10, 2021) with Verizon and followed by T-Mobile tomorrow and AT&T Friday to inform and reassure the investor community of their strategies after the $81 billion C-Band auction. The auction’s surprising size may necessitate some belt-tightening as the carriers begin to…

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FCC’s CBRS Bidders Reveal Indicates Broad Interest from New Entrants and Incumbents

The FCC’s CBRS auction results are in, showing an upswing of diverse interest in mid-band spectrum across industries and geographies. The national wireless operators Verizon and DISH dominated the auction, but cable and wireline telcos also showed healthy demand. However, this auction drew the most interest from the start with 271 qualified bidders (versus the…

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CBRS Auction Update: Overlapping EBS Coverage May Impact Price More Than Population Density

CBRS auction (FCC Auction #105) bidding seems to deviate from the traditional trend of license territories in more densely populated territories clearing higher prices than those in less densely populated areas. Instead, pricing appears to be impacted by the availability of substitutable mid-band spectrum, primarily EBS, in the particular market. The deviation from pricing based…

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