2024 Spectrum Transactions: Year in Review
Published on Dec 30, 2024
By the Airwave TeamIn this “2024 Spectrum Year in Review,” we’ll explore key events and trends in the world of spectrum that defined the year. First, we’ll go through some of the biggest storylines and then go through analytics of changes to holdings.
Major Deals
UScellular Sold Off Significant Spectrum to T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T
As we wrote about in the UScellular State of Spectrum, most of their portfolio has been sold in the three major transactions this year, but a significant amount of spectrum remains in their portfolio.
T-Mobile Relentlessly Purchased 2.5 GHz Spectrum
As Mike Dano wrote about in Light Reading, T-Mobile has been relentlessly purchasing 2.5 GHz spectrum, mostly from educational institutions. For many of these transactions, T-Mobile was previously leasing the spectrum.
This is part of the larger story of T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and AT&T doubling down on their upper-mid band spectrum strategies, with T-Mobile going after 2.5 GHz, Verizon Wireless going after C-Band, and AT&T going after 3.45 GHz.
T-Mobile Engaged in Big Spectrum Swaps
In Febuary, T-Mobile and Verizon engaged in a swap which involved transfer of PCS and AWS licenses on both sides of the transaction.
T-Mobile and SoniqWave engaged in a swap of 2.5 GHz spectrum for 3.45 GHz spectrum in May. (See Fierce Network article here.)
Also in May, T-Mobile and AT&T engaged in a swap where AT&T transferred 85B MHz-Pops of 24 GHz spectrum to T-Mobile in exchange for 103.5B MHz-Pops of 37/39 GHz spectrum.
Summary Metrics at the End of 2024
$6.03B
ARV of Spectrum transferred (approved)
$15.46B
ARV of Spectrum transferred (with pending)
In this end of year summary, we will go through the changes to the value of each company's spectrum holdings through the course of the year. The results include 10 of the largest spectrum transfers between parties that have been approved, as well as the 10 largest spectrum transfers between parties that are pending approval.
Many of the largest holders did not engage in spectrum transactions this year, some of which include:
- Comcast1
- Grain Management
- Bluewater Wireless
- Whitewater Wireless II, L.P.
- GeoLinks
- C Spire
- Cox Communications, Inc.
1 Comcast was involved in a 2023 transaction with T-Mobile, involving 600 MHz spectrum.
Largest Transactions
10 Largest Spectrum Transactions Approved
The arrows (→) indicate spectrum was transferred from one party to another.
| Transaction |
|---|
| Verizon Wireless→T-Mobile |
| AT&T→T-Mobile |
| T-Mobile→AT&T |
| Columbia Capital→T-Mobile |
| Chicago Instructional Technology Foundation, Inc.→TWIN CITIES SCHOOLS TELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. |
| IDEASTREAM→T-Mobile |
| T-Mobile→Verizon Wireless |
| Oklahoma City University→T-Mobile |
| CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE→T-Mobile |
| ST. LOUIS REGIONAL PUBLIC MEDIA, INC.→T-Mobile |
10 Largest Spectrum Transactions Pending
The arrows (→) indicate spectrum was transferred from one party to another.
| Transaction |
|---|
| T-Mobile→Columbia Capital |
| UScellular→T-Mobile |
| Columbia Capital→T-Mobile |
| SoniqWave→T-Mobile |
| T-Mobile→Rocky Mountain Broadband, LLC |
| Vail, William C→UScellular |
| University of North Carolina System Office→T-Mobile |
| T-Mobile→SoniqWave |
| Regents of the University of Minnesota→T-Mobile |
| CARITAS TELECOMMUNICATIONS→T-Mobile |
Summary of Changes
With Only Results filed with the FCC
Dollar Value Changes (Approved)
The "In" and "Out" columns in the are the ARV Estimate of the spectrum acquired or sold, not the sum of transaction prices. This is our measurement of changes to the value of each company's spectrum holdings through the course of the year.
| Company | In | Out | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile | $4.47B | $965.118M | $3.5B |
| Verizon Wireless | $253.816M | $1.258B | -$1B |
| AT&T | $715.823M | $1.02B | -$304.6M |
| Dish | - | $31.87M | -$31.9M |
| UScellular | - | - | $0 |
| Columbia Capital | - | $629.865M | -$629.9M |
Dollar Value Changes (including Pending)
The "In" and "Out" columns in the are the ARV Estimate of the spectrum acquired or sold, not the sum of transaction prices. This is our measurement of changes to the value of each company's spectrum holdings through the course of the year.
| Company | Pending In | Pending Out | Change (Pending + Approved) |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile | $4.073B | $4.933B | $2.6B |
| Verizon Wireless | $12.798M | - | -$991.1M |
| AT&T | - | - | -$304.6M |
| Dish | - | - | -$31.9M |
| UScellular | $370.886M | $2.24B | -$1.9B |
| Columbia Capital | $4.214B | $525.862M | $3.1B |
With Results Announced
The UScellular-Verizon and UScellular-AT&T transactions are excluded from the tables above because they have not yet been filed with the FCC.
If these were added, Verizon's spectrum holdings change would be about +$1.0B and AT&T's would be +$1.018B, given these are the actual prices of the transactions.
With these prices included, the year end changes would be:
- Verizon: -$3.9M
- AT&T: +$713.4M
As mentioned, to see details of both of these deals, we recommend reading our UScellular State of Spectrum article.
The image below shows what the year-end changes would look like if the UScellular-Verizon and UScellular-AT&T transactions were included.
Accessing the Data
For a more detailed look at the data here, please reach out through our contact page.