AT&T led bidders in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 5G spectrum auction of 3.45 GHz band spectrum, winning $9 billion in bids, the U.S. regulator said.
The 5G spectrum auction generated $22.5 billion in total, the FCC said. T-Mobile US won $2.9 billion while Weminuche won $7.3 billion, which some analysts and FCC documents suggest bid on behalf of Dish.
Dish, which did not immediately comment Friday, confirmed in November it had filed to participate in the auction.
U.S. Cellular won $580 million in bids.
The FCC said over one-third of the top 100 markets have at least four winning bidders, a broader ranger than a prior auction. The broader range and distribution of winning bidders will increase competition by providing a diversity of wireless carriers with the midband spectrum resources needed to maintain American leadership in 5G, FCC said.
“Enabling commercial use of this spectrum is important to America’s continuing economic recovery and 5G leadership,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said.
