Comcast has introduced it’s promoting its 600 MHz 5G spectrum to T-Cell, a transfer that can assist the magenta provider enhance its nationwide 5G community.
Comcast bought mid and low-band spectrum a number of years in the past to construct out its personal 5G service. The corporate has began rolling out the mid-band spectrum and is offloading its low-band 600 MHz spectrum to T-Cell.
Low-band spectrum gives superior vary and constructing penetration, however is slower than mid and high-band spectrum. T-Cell at the moment depends on low-band 600 MHz spectrum for its nationwide 5G, offering protection in areas which can be out of vary for the opposite bands.
Comcast says T-Cell will initially lease its 600 MHz spectrum and finally buy it altogether for roughly $3.3 billion.
Our 5G community area assessments with CBRS spectrum have exceeded our expectations and we’ve discovered the band to be extremely environment friendly and a major a part of a 5G community. This sturdy CBRS spectrum efficiency has made us understand that we’re unlikely to want the 600 MHz spectrum licenses that we at the moment maintain to assist our wi-fi clients. Consequently, we just lately entered into an settlement with T-Cell through which it can lease and finally buy our licenses within the 600 MHz band.
T-Cell is already a consumer of 600 MHz spectrum, so it is sensible for us to enter into this “lease to buy” association in order that they will put this spectrum to make use of briefly order. We’ll proceed to check with 600 MHz in our Philadelphia market and if our perspective modifications, we’ve secured the choice to reclaim the 600 MHz spectrum inside our markets, giving us wonderful optionality if we’d like it sooner or later.
The 600 MHz we’re offering to T-Cell features a single 10 MHz license in most markets, so we don’t anticipate any materials influence to our enterprise. Beneath our settlement, Comcast will obtain quarterly lease funds adopted by a closing fee of roughly $3.3 billion for the license buy, which we anticipate to happen in 2028.
