AT&T may be restricted in AWS spectrum auction

AT&T may not be allowed to bid for all the 80MHz of spectrum in the AWS band that will be put up for auction next year by Mexican telecom regulator IFT.

IFT might want to ensure balance in the ownership of spectrum with the auction, said experts quoted by El Economista, which could lead to the watchdog introducing requirements that exclude AT&T. The operator could be limited to bidding on five out of the eight or nine blocks of spectrum to be offered.

AT&T has the most spectrum of any operator in the AWS band after acquiring that of Nextel and Iusacell, exceeding the limit allowed by law.

Former regulator Cofetel established that no operator could have more than 80MHz of spectrum in a single region. Iusacell has a national average of 54MHz and Nextel 110MHz, which means AT&T has 164MHz.

There was speculation over whether AT&T would have to give spectrum back, but IFT decided to not take it away.

IFT announced that it will auction 80MHz of the AWS band (1.7/2.1GHz) in 2016, which would be used for the deployment of 4G LTE technologies for mobile services.

The auction includes 30MHz in AWS-1 (1,710-1,725MHz/2,110-2,125MHz) and 50MHz in AWS-3 (1,755-1,780MHz/2,155-2,180MHz). The tender will be open to current and prospective operators.