United States Cellular Corporation (trading as UScellular) has confirmed that it acquired 254 C-band licences in the recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Auction 107 sale, covering 94% of its subscriber base. The cellco paid a total of USD1.46 billion, which includes gross bids as well as estimated relocation costs and accelerated relocation incentive payments. Combined with prior mid-band purchases of CBRS spectrum in Auction 105, UScellular says it now has mid-band spectrum covering ‘nearly all of its operating footprint’.
Laurent Therivel, UScellular president and CEO, commented: ‘All spectrum bands will play an important role in our 5G network strategy. We are currently deploying 5G on 600MHz spectrum and we have planned all along to augment it with mid- and high-band spectrum. We are pleased with our success in the C-band auction, acquiring 60MHz in the majority of our key markets, in places like Wisconsin and Iowa.’
TeleGeography notes that Auction 107, which comprised frequencies in the 3.7GHz-3.98GHz band, generated net winning bids totalling USD81.114 billion, with 21 bidders winning all of the 5,684 available licences.