If the FCC adjusted the spectrum screen to...
If the FCC adjusted the spectrum screen to allow for larger holdings, it would make it easier for Verizon or AT&T to buy Dish Network, said BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk Friday in a blog post. The FCC’s current screen only…
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includes 55 MHz of Clearwire’s more than 160 MHz of spectrum, and does not include the 40 MHz of LightSquared spectrum to be auctioned Nov. 25, the 10 MHz of H-Block spectrum the FCC plans to auction in January or the 85 MHz to be included in the AWS-3 auction, Piecyk said. If the FCC included these holdings in the spectrum screen calculations, it would “clearly increase Verizon and AT&T’s flexibility to not only buy spectrum in upcoming auctions but to also make large acquisitions, with Dish being the most notable target,” Piecyk said. The FCC’s screen requires additional regulatory scrutiny when any operator’s spectrum ownership is above one-third of spectrum in a market -- and one-third of the 285 MHz of spectrum not currently included in the screen is 95 MHz, which is how much Piecyk estimates Dish will hold at the end of Q1 2014 (http://bit.ly/1d2SFcq).