FCC Spectrum Auction Results: Winners Of Low-Band Spectrum Include T-Mobile, Comcast, Dish Network

The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday the winners of its spectrum auction, which includes T-Mobile, Dish Network and Comcast.

The auction of radio frequencies netted the U.S. government a total of $19.8 billion as it handed out licenses to mobile carriers and internet service providers that placed bids. T-Mobile walked away with the largest number of licenses.

The third-largest mobile service provider in the U.S. spent $8 billion on its winnings, which amounted to 45 percent of the block of spectrum. Dish Network offered $6.2 billion for its share of the auction, while Comcast spent $1.7 billion. Verizon opted not to bid despite previously committing to the auction.

Read: FCC Spectrum Auction Update: Prices Going Down, Who's Bidding And What Is It?

T-Mobile CEO John Legere talked up the auction win in a blog post, in which he claimed his company now had the ability to cover every single American. “This spectrum sets us up to bring the Un-carrier—and REAL competition—to wireless customers everywhere, many of whom have never had real choices in wireless,” he wrote. If the [Verizon and AT&T] thought things were rough before—well, just wait!”

T-Mobile, along with Dish and Comcast, will now have access to blocks of 600 Megahertz wireless spectrum, which was previously used by local television stations but has been repurposed for use by cellular providers. A prior reverse auction was held to encourage TV stations surrender the spectrum.

The low-band spectrum is important for wireless carriers—and subsequently to consumers—as it allows wireless signals to be transmitted over long distances and through barriers, allowing data to travel. It’s an important part of the airwaves, especially in densely populated areas where demand can become a strain on networks.

A previous low-band spectrum auction, held in 2008 for 700MHz spectrum, was won by AT&T and Verizon. That spectrum, also formerly held by TV stations, became the foundation of the 4G LTE networks of those companies.

For Comcast, the interest in the auction indicates the company is interested in continuing to push toward a full-blown mobile network. The company recently introduced Xfinity Mobile, a cellular service that currently runs atop Verizon’s network. It may be aiming to start building out a wireless network of its own with its auction winnings.

Read: Comcast Launches Xfinity Mobile For Smartphone Service

Despite generating nearly $20 billion and receiving a total of 62 bids during the auction, the FCC was expecting a bigger success. Experts told the Wall Street Journal the auction has produced less interest than expected because the low-frequency television airwaves aren’t as capable as other airwaves that can carry more data over short distances.