Without the proper administration of spectrum amongst the wireless providers, it would be chaos, there has to be rules and regulations, and of course it has to be monitored by someone, so in this case, the one in charge would be the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).
The wireless giants regardless of how big they are must also abide by these rules, and there is a massive fight for spectrum in the wireless market and of course the more you can purchase licenses the more you area you can cover. Moreover, knowing this the biggest giants take advantage and well cover most areas.
T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint control most of the spectrum in the United States.
All this said Spectrum divides into three categories:
Keep in mind that each category has its unique characteristics, for example, High-Band can cover a small geographical area but carries faster speed and more data. Low Band, on the other hand, covers a larger geographical area and can penetrate buildings, but may suffer due to much lower speeds.
AT&T is close to purchasing Fiber Tower and Verizon Straight Path; the two carriers are locked-in a fight for control of the nation's spectrum.
In comparing all of the industry leaders, up first is Verizon; who takes the prize home for being the nation's largest wireless carrier with approximately 146-million customers. Verizon began building its LTE network at 700MHz spectrum by winning the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction in 2008.
Following close behind is AT&T, the nation's second-largest carrier with around 134 million customers with LTE operations that can cover around 400-million individuals in the USA. Working primarily on AWS-1 and 700 MHz.
T-Mobile, on the other hand, is the third largest carrier with around 72 million customers. Their LTE network covers 314 million people and also works on AWS-1 and expanding to handle 700MHz.
Finally, Sprint is the fourth largest wireless carrier with around 58 million users; its LTE operations cover around 300-million people. Sprint's network relies on 800MHz and 1900MHz and 2.5GHz of Spectrum.
Needless to say that the four giants of the wireless industry are taking over the airwaves and continue to provide services to smaller wireless carriers, such as Boost-mobile, Cricket, and Metropcs. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that the more these carriers battle it out and the more they strive to buy, at the end the consumer is who flips the bill while trying to enjoy the services.
