The Federal Communications Commission was offering 280 megahertz worth of spectrum that purchasers could use to provide 5G cellular service. When the auction was over, bidders had spent a record-shattering $81 billion to charter critical frequencies in a part of the spectrum called the mid-band.
Catherine Rosenberg, a University of Waterloo electrical and computer engineering professor and 5G systems researcher, said mid-band is the key to those strategies. Mid-band spectrum offers an attractive compromise between the two—sending data at broadband speeds to users a few miles away from a tower. This Goldilocks position within the spectrum is what has everyone clamoring for frequencies in that range. But regulators needed to reallocate mid-band frequencies from their previous task of transmitting analog and satellite TV signals before 5G carriers could start using them.
T-Mobile, for instance, held the 2.5 GHz frequency thanks to its acquisition of Sprint, giving it a leg up against the competition in mid-band spectrum holdings. It also picked up an additional 40 MHz of mid-band in the FCC auction to cement its advantage. All that mid-band, along with its low- and high-band assets, gives T-Mobile a substantial footprint across U.S. urban and suburban markets and puts it on track to cover 200 million people with its Ultra Capacity 5G by the end of 2021.
TMobileBusiness Missed opportunity to call it the '5G Spot'.
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