800 MHz What's Next

With the recent news that DISH would not be exercising their option to purchase the Enhanced Special Mobile Radio (ESMR) 800 MHz licenses from T-Mobile, attention has turned to what it means for DISH. However, an equally important question for many investors, operators, utilities, and integrators is what does it mean for the 800 MHz frequencies, more specifically what’s next for the band? In the following report, we provide a brief background and technical overview of the ESMR band and then outline the potential transactional steps which could occur. We also conduct a more detailed analysis of the impact the 800 MHz band can have on T-Mobile’s strategic transaction of Comcast’s 600 MHz portfolio. The authors then extract which markets might be essential to T-Mobile’s divestiture plans by evaluating the post-transaction impact under the FCC’s spectrum screen and regulatory review. This report will be of interest to spectrum speculators, low band holders, utilities, systems integrators,