Just this week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had taken the opportunity to announce the results of its 600 MegaHertz incentive spectrum auction. T-Mobile, Dish Network, and Comcast came out as the top bidders. But perhaps some were wondering why the biggest mobile operator in America -- Verizon Wireless -- did not buy any airwaves.
According to an article published by FierceWireless, the immediate effect of Verizon Wireless’ failure to successfully bid for spectrum is that it will not be able to expand on its existing coverage with the low band 600 MegaHertz licenses. For those not in the know, 600 MegaHertz airwaves are quite suitable for covering vast geographic areas and for transmitting signals inside buildings and large structures.
Still, as explained by a spokesperson for the Big Red to FierceWireless, the wireless carrier remains pretty confident that its position, particularly in its “approach to acquiring, managing, and re-farming its spectrum assets to support the network that continues to generate top ratings for customer performance.
It does seem unusual for the industry leader to opt not to take part in the auction, especially considering that back in February early this year, the major US wireless carrier had introduced its Verizon Unlimited data plans that for sure will serve as an additional load for its mobile network. And based on the Big Red’s history, it has consistently been participating in past spectrum auctions conducted by the FCC. As a matter of fact, Verizon Wireless had successfully leveraged the 700 MegaHertz C Block airwaves it had acquired for a sum of $10 billion from the FCC’s final low band spectrum auction nearly a decade ago, in order to set up most of the foundation of its first ever LTE network.
Some may remember that about three years ago, the Big Red also spent around $10.4 billion to acquire the midband AWS-3 airwaves auctioned by the FCC. And considering it bought loads of AWS airwaves from a number of cable TV companies back in 2011, it seems that Verizon Wireless is not averse to the idea of shopping for spectrum. Still, it is worth noting that even if it did not participate in the latest FCC incentive auction, Verizon Wireless still has a number of options available. Indeed, industry watchers have been saying for some time now that they fully expect the company to strike a deal with Dish Network.
As the number one wireless service provider in the United States, it is true that Verizon does not need to conform to whatever its competitors are doing. It is quite possible that the Big Red has something up its sleeve. Or maybe it did not buy any spectrum simply because it does not need to for now. But in a business as constantly evolving as wireless, you never really know what is going to happen next.
