What are the The FCC and AT&T trying to hide?

Just a few days ago. He/She posted a portion of a transcript and I asked that the entire transcript be posted. Codesilver was more than accommodating very quickly.

There is a sharp person there. They have respnded to my requests.

Codesilver, can you confirm you were the one who requested the transcript of Tuesday's hearing? I believe you can request the transcript and receive but not sure if they actually post the transcript. Similar to what you did for the Thomas Scott/Unsecured Transcript.

How does that synch up with me saying I don't see them letting Fibertower go for $207M? I don't follow what you are implying.

Based on what has been put before us one has to believe there is either more out there or more coming. That is what Levy and Fahy were pushing for was additional details on the overall deal. Keep in mind that depending on how all of this was structured this final case was for just Fibertower Spectrum Holdings. They could have crafted the deal in some fashion that paid $207M here and $500M there etc... AT&T still has not released any SEC filing and I would assume that as a public company when you go out and purchase a company and make press releases an SEC filing has to come at some point. Since there has been no SEC filing to date it makes me believe there is more to come that needed that final decree to be put forward. Agree with JL1975 and others that there is no way Solus and Broadbill settled for $207M and the settlement agreement is still nebulous as can be. The transcript from Monday could be an interesting read or it could be nothing. But we will have to wait and see what happens.

From Fahy's Response to Joint Opposition of Petition to Deny. He nailed it:

Outlined below is a timetable of the date, value, and by whom Fibertower’s 24 GHz and 39 GHz portfolio was valued at over the course of time. The primary asset was devalued from $288.5M to $1 to $2M in less than 2 years or from $342M to $1 to $2M in less than 4 years leading into bankruptcy.

Date: 24/39 GHz Portfolio Value: Source of Value Origin:
12/31/2006 $342M Fibertower Annual 10K, Tom Scott was CFO
12/31/2007 $342M Fibertower Annual 10K, Tom Scott was CFO
12/31/2008 $342M Fibertower Annual 10K, Tom Scott was CFO
12/31/2009 $288.5M Fibertower Annual 10K, Tom Scott was CFO
12/31/2010 $288.5M Fibertower Annual 10K, Tom Scott was CFO
12/31/2011 $106M Fibertower Annual 10K, Tom Scott was CFO
09/27/2013 $1 to $2M Fibertower Chapter 11 BK, Tom Scott (Advisor /defacto Chief Executive Officer of the Debtors)
01/25/2017 Unknown AT&T Agrees to Purchase Fibertower Interests

As one can see the valuation of Fibertower’s 24 GHz and 39 GHz spectrum portfolio was performed in a narrow financial echo chamber of sorts. It deserves much further examination as to how the primary asset of Fibertower being the 24 GHz and 39 GHz spectrum portfolio can see 99% of its value eroded within 2 years leading into a Bankruptcy Filing with all the valuations managed by the same individual serving in different roles. There is no other instance where Wireless Spectrum Assets have ever been even remotely close to being this extremely devalued in such short order. The notion that wireless spectrum licenses can lose more than 99% of their value within the 2 years leading into a Bankruptcy Filing alone is highly suspect.

Balance Sheet 2011:

Cash/Equivalents:
Q1 $14.4M
Q2 $12.4M
Q3 $21.8M
Oct $24.5M


Total Current Assets:
Q1 $26M
Q2 $24M
Q3 $33M
Oct $36M

Total Current Liabilities:
Q1 $13M
Q2 $13M
Q3 $11M
Oct $14M

Codesilver, can you post the entire back and forth or was that it?

So the $288M to $106M...the $106M is a bogus number put on their financial statements. Didn't have $10-$12M for the buildouts to preserve the $288M asset? The debtors extracted $30M or so in cash during the BK process.

On behalf of the UNSECURED CREDITORS you have Posner telling everyone that the debtors numbers are insane in 2012.

On behalf of the DEBTORS you have Posner telling everyone that Fahy and Levy are insane in 2017/2018 for calling out the valuations done by Thomas Scott going in short order from $300M+ to $1-$2M.

The long tale of many chapters of lying, fraud, and deceit that is on clear display is so over the top that I guess it is too unbelievable.

Let's all hope and hope is a terrible strategy that AT&T has some bullets left in the chamber and both they and the fcc do what is right. Again hope is not a great strategy. $207M simply cannot be the final number

AT&T wanted STRP just as bad as Verizon. AT&T doesn't risk colluding with criminal hedge funds to pull off something like that. Verizon would sniff that out in a second and to do something like that with a TWX merger pending would be insane. The FCC was the middleman and buffer for AT&T to get their hands on Fibertower. Same thing with Verizon. Both AT&T and Verizon use the FCC wash cloth to clean their hands and face of the Hedge Fund and STRP filth.

Sandpaints, I like you and the conversations we have had for many years but please cease whatever you are doing as of late. Agree with JL1975. Thanks Sandpaints.

If I were as smart as those two guys I wouldn't respond to anyone's emails either. They have done all the heavy lifting and I assume if they aren't themselves professionals had professional help in crafting their strategy. They developed quite the argument to get us all in the money if we are or were in fact out of the money.

T-Mobile to build—but not necessarily sell—5G in 30 cities this year


BARCELONA, Spain—T-Mobile said its network vendors Ericsson and Nokia will build a 5G network across the carrier’s 600 MHz, 28 GHz and 39 GHz spectrum in 30 cities—including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Las Vegas—during 2018.

However, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray said the operator won’t be able to offer compatible smartphones for the service until early 2019.

“There is a world of opportunity in 5G,” Ray said, explaining that the operator expects to eventually power 5G offerings across a variety of devices including laptops, tablets, smartphones and wearables, running services like virtual reality, real-time translation and industrial automation.

Ray presented a number of 5G use cases during a media event here at the Mobile World Congress trade show.

Ray explained that Nokia and Ericsson today are deploying 5G-capable network equipment to T-Mobile towers, and will continue that work throughout this year. T-Mobile has promised to turn on 5G services starting next year and expects to offer 5G services nationwide in 2020.

However, Ray declined to speculate about the real-world speeds that T-Mobile might be able to offer through 5G. He said the carrier’s LTE network would offer increasingly speedy connections through the deployment of new technologies like 32T32R MIMO (which T-Mobile expects to roll out on LTE this year), and that the operator’s 5G services would work alongside those LTE offerings to increase users’ overall speeds.

Ray also acknowledged that T-Mobile’s 5G speeds would likely vary depending on which spectrum band users access it through. Indeed, low-band spectrum like 600 MHz is often used to cover large geographic areas at relatively slow speeds due to its propagation characteristics, while high-band spectrum like 28 GHz typically doesn’t propagate as far (transmissions in those so-called millimeter-wave bands often are measured in hundreds of meters rather than tens of miles) but can generally support dramatically faster speeds.

Ray noted that T-Mobile owns roughly 200 MHz of millimeter-wave spectrum across 100 million POPs in the 30 cities where it is building 5G.

“Right now I don’t know” what end-user speeds will be, Ray said of T-Mobile’s forthcoming 5G service, adding that “it’s going to take a long, long time” to fully deploy 5G services across all of T-Mobile’s low-, mid-, and high-band spectrum.

Ray offered a look at T-Mobile’s multispectrum band 5G deployment plans.

Interestingly, T-Mobile’s two main wireless network vendors—Ericsson and Nokia—issued press releases of their own detailing their 5G work for T-Mobile, and those releases offered some insights into each company’s overall strategy with T-Mobile.

Ericsson, for example, said that it is supplying 600 MHz, 28 GHz and 39 GHz equipment for T-Mobile in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. But Nokia said only that it is supplying 600 MHz and 28 GHz equipment in Dallas.

However, Nokia added that its 5G work for T-Mobile covers a wide range of Nokia products and services, including:

Nokia’s AirScale baseband and remote radio heads and its ReefShark-enabled portfolio.
Nokia’s Core technologies “powered by the Nokia AirFrame data center solution, Subscriber Data Management, CloudBand and Cloud Packet Core.
Nokia Mobile Anyhaul framework.
Nokia Digital Experience and Monetization solutions.
Nokia CloudBand Management and Orchestration (MANO) software suite.
Nokia NetAct virtualized network management software.

“Nokia's 5G solution combines our high-capacity New Radio, Core and SDN controlled 'anyhaul' transport and software, and incorporates innovations such as the new in-house silicon ReefShark chipset to deliver a new level of network performance. 5G is happening now, and no company is better placed to deliver than Nokia,” boasted Nokia’s CEO Rajeev Suri in a release from the company.

In T-Mobile’s own release about its announcement, the company’s CEO John Legere sought to downplay the fact that T-Mobile doesn’t plan to sell commercial 5G services this year—whereas both of its bigger rivals AT&T and Verizon have promised to sell commercial 5G services by the end of 2018.

“Dumb and Dumber [Legere’s nicknames for AT&T and Verizon] are in a meaningless race to be first. Their so-called 5G isn’t mobile, and it’s not even on a smartphone. It’s a puck?! You gotta be pucking kidding me!” Legere said in a T-Mobile release. “While the Duopoly focus on bragging rights, we focus on customers. T-Mobile has massively bigger plans for a truly transformative 5G experience on your smartphone nationwide. We’re playing the long game ... the only game that matters.”

Specifically, AT&T last month promised to launch a standards-based mobile 5G service in a dozen cities in the United States before the end of this year. Company executives have said the operator will offer a mobile “puck” device in time for the launch.

Meantime, Verizon has said it will launch fixed 5G services in 3-5 cities this year, and mobile services shortly thereafter.

AT&T, Verizon both promise to be ‘first’ with 5G

BARCELONA, Spain—“We’re going to be first to market” in 5G, proclaimed Nicola Palmer, Verizon’s chief network engineer and head of the carrier’s wireless networks, during a FierceWireless event held in conjunction with the Mobile World Congress trade show.

“We have every intention of being first,” declared Gordon Mansfield, AT&T’s VP of RAN and device design, at the same event.

Of course, the operators can’t both be first to launch 5G. But despite the fact that one operator will launch services before the other, they may both be able to claim the ultimate title of “first to 5G” based on their respective network definitions and strategies.

Specifically, AT&T’s Mansfield promised his company would be the first to launch a “mobile” flavor of 5G with a network based on the 3GPP’s recently ratified Release 15 standard that contains the nonstandalone version of the 5G NR specification. Indeed, AT&T last month promised to launch a standards-based mobile 5G service in a dozen cities in the United States before the end of this year. Company executives have said the operator will offer a mobile “puck” device in time for the launch.

Verizon, on the other hand, has promised to launch a fixed 5G service in three to five cities this year, and Palmer said the carrier will launch a mobile 5G service immediately thereafter. However, Verizon’s CEO recently admitted that the company would eventually have to replace its proprietary V5GTF 5G equipment with 5G equipment that adheres to the 3GPP’s recently completed 5G standard after it launches its initial fixed wireless markets.

Industry observers generally agree that Verizon’s V5GTF standard is virtually identical to the 3GPP’s Release 15 standard. And creating its own V5GTF standard allowed Verizon to test the service in 11 different markets across a total of 200 different nodes. The company has said that the results of its tests show that it will be able to provide 1 Gbps services at up to 2,000 feet.

Nonetheless, it’s clear that AT&T has positioned itself to be the “first” to offer 5G services on the 3GPP’s standard, while Verizon may well be the “first” with a service mimicking the performance of 5G.

Further muddying the waters is AT&T’s launch of “5G Evolution internet speeds” in 20 major metro areas last year. The carrier argued that effort better positioned it to offer 5G, though it’s fair to say that the branding could confuse customers looking for the 5G label.

“5G has become as much a marketing game as it has a technology evolution game,” noted industry analyst Mark Lowenstein last year.

Vuletini, that doesn't appear to be very sound or up to date information. Please tell us you ran the settlement agreement past someone well versed in this type of matter. The manner in which you respond to me leads me to believe you haven't done anything. Just looking for information. I am trying to be more polite than than some of the others on this board.

Vuletini never mind the nonsense. What did lawyer tell you?

Pai looking to auction 24/28 ghz by fall.

Vuletini and JL1975 what legal advice have you gotten? Please share. 2.44M shares you must have.

Vuletini there are many of us who would appreciate you passing along anything you have found out. I am assuming with your holdings that you have an attorney. Thanks.

Sandpaints, what is your theory on the low ball $207M?

Page 5 of the Settlement Agreement #11. 3 Business Days final an application to close the BK Case.

Page 14 / Appendix C. No hearing will be conducted unless a written reponse is filed with the clerk within 24 days from the date of service.

Now the headlines said they closed but I haven't seen anything official. Would think a public company would have to put something more official out there documenting the purchase, purchase details, and agreement.

Fixed wireless is a big deal. Here’s why:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/editor-s-corner-fixed-wireless-a-big-deal-here-s-why

That article was complete rubbish. The author was a complete idiot, trying to do a puffy piece on sprint, or both.

The irony is they could have had it all if they built the links to nowhere for the $30M or so. Don't think we would be any better off but I agree the $207M doesn't cover the bonds, the write down of the bonds, other costs. Perhaps they have a few cards up their sleeve and pull off some crazy move now.

In my post this morning you saw how quickly things heated up with the Straightpath negotiations. Don't you think Fibertower would see that and try and figure out a way to get their own snowball rolling? Right now if you opened it up I could see T-Mobile and AT&T engaging in what AT&T and Verizon went through. At this point there would probably be some other deep pockets in there making it interesting.
I simpy cannot understand Fibertower not having an escape/penalty clause and seeing things through in 2019. $207M has us all scratching our heads.

Back of the envelope math.

STRP SEC Doc which outlines timeline and bids is:

http://spathinc.com/investors/

June 30th Document. Pages 38 - 52.

Fiercewireless and Strp Sec Doc. You can be the formmal writer. This is a message board.

If there is not more to this then $207M, Solus is the biggest bunch of buffoons.

*The initial license count was approximately 738.
*They had clear possession of 88 licenses heading into the transaction (Not sure of how many of the 88 were forfeited)
*650 licenses remained in question.
*They forfeited in total approximately 224 licenses.
*That left two lots of licenses that they possessed, The initial 88 plus what they netted out with the FCC equaling 426 licenses. Walked away with 514 licenses. That’s about 70% of the original lot.
*The total mhz pops on that initial 738 was around 151 Billion. Based on 514 licenses mhz pops now 106 Billion.(Rough Math)
*If the $207M figure is final then AT&T got the spectrum for $.00196 per mhz pop. The Verizon and Straighpath Deal yields a mhz pop value of $.0172. That is nearly 9X that of the Fibertower valuation.

“One of the most interesting findings from the Verizon/Straight Path S-4 filing was that 11/20 potential bidders contacted by Straight Path’s bankers expressed some level of interest, executing confidentiality agreements,” Niknam wrote. “These may have included non-strategic players (i.e.: financial sponsors), and Verizon/AT&T ultimately did drive the lion’s share of the bidding; however, we still think it is a point worth flagging. Specifically, we are increasingly hearing industry participants discuss the potential for non-wireless incumbents (i.e.: cable, larger tech companies) evaluating a greater presence in the U.S. wireless market.” Indeed, Straight Path had long been expected to sell its licenses to a wireless or cable network operator. The company holds an average of 620 MHz in the top 30 U.S. markets and covers the entire nation with 39 GHz spectrum; it also holds 28 GHz spectrum licenses

During the month of February 2017, at the direction of the Straight Path board, representatives of Evercore contacted 20 potential bidders, and 11 of the 20 potential bidders executed confidentiality agreements with Straight Path. Those bidders were Verizon, AT&T, Bidder B, Bidder C and seven other strategic bidders, which we refer to as Bidders D, E, F, G, H, I and J. After executing confidentiality agreements with Straight Path, the bidders, other than Bidder D, were granted access to an online data room established by Straight Path, which we refer to as the virtual data room. Bidder D informed representatives of Evercore after executing the confidentiality agreement that such bidder was no longer interested in pursuing a potential transaction with Straight Path and was not provided access to the virtual data room.

History of STRP Bids:
03/01/2017 $435M ATT
03/02/2017 $602M ATT
03/02/2017 $550M VZ
03/02/2017 $480M Bidder B
03/13/2017 $750M VZ
03/23/2017 $800M ATT
03/30/2017 $875M ATT
03/30/2017 $801M Bidder B
03/30/2017 $776M VZ
04/06/2017 $951M ATT
04/06/2017 $1.03B VZ
04/07/2017 $960M Bidder B
04/07/2017 $1.26B VZ
04/07/2017 Bidder B can’t support $1B+
04/08/2017 $1.4B ATT
04/09/2017 $1.55B VZ
04/09/2017 $1.6B ATT
04/20/2017 $1.8B VZ
05/01/2017 $2B ATT
05/01/2017 $2.3B VZ
*05/07/2017 $3.1B VZ or $3.3B if Straight Path allowed Verizon the opportunity to discuss with AT&T for a period of five business days a transaction that would result in a sale of Straight Path after which each of Verizon and AT&T would own some of Straight Path’s licenses, which we refer to as the May 7 Verizon Enhanced Offer.
*Did not want to accept the $3.3B offer because it would end the competitive bidding process.
*AT&T was not interested in topping the $3.1B offer.

*There has to be more to this as I cannot imagine those hedge funds settling for this.
*FCC announced 28/39 was first MM Wave approved for 5G mobility in October 2015.
*If the FCC had any say in all of this why would they want to undermine the value of their future auctions.
*In all of these deals there is generally some type of breakup fee that one can pay to get out of the deal. Did Fibertower and their advisors not institute any such type of clause?
*Verizon bought up XO. There had to be some temperature taking of the rooms out there by Evercore, Solus etc… to see interest in Fibertower, StraightPath etc….
*If this $207M stands as is then Solus is a bunch of buffoons. Not as much for the valuation but not having an escape clause once Straightpath took off like a rocket.
*Leading up to this we can consider Solus Spectrum Hawks. They have been all over the Spectrum Space buying up shares and debt.
*On 12/31/2016 Solus reported a 1.1M share or 9.5% stake in StraightPath
*Did Solus/Fibertower negotiate this entire thing on their own?

I tend to jump the gun on these things. The press release is as brief as it gets. Definitely a chance that there is far more to this than what the quick releases are saying which isn't much.

Let’s hope so.

$207M. If correct they gave it away for peanuts.

"Respectful Manner" was always an interesting choice of words. AT&T doesn't play games, they overpay, and they mitigate and if they can eliminate risk. They aren't naive to what has occurred.

The FCC may not formally make a favorable decision and I did not expect them to but they may have influenced AT&T behind the scenes. And AT&T may be taking action even without the FCC's influence. We really are not worse off today than yesterday as the FCC wasn't going to put anything down on paper or on record. Once again...The Transaction Details are needed.

I have eluded to this for years. It was always a cheap hedge for the debtholders to employ in case things didn't go exactly as planned. And in this case I don't think it is going as smoothly as they anticipated. So instead of 100% of $1B to $2B they walk away with 90% which includes their shareholder stake and other parties are happy as well. But if everyone sat silent they were on a path to 100%. Agree that the FCC and ATT are clearing the way for this to hit the finish line with high % chance of shareholders(non debtholder ones) getting a cut.

T-Mobile to buy 1150 MHz of millimeter-wave spectrum covering Ohio for 5G

Assume values are going up:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-buys-1150-mhz-millimeter-wave-spectrum-covering-ohio-for-5g

Agree rfarmer. Most would have taken the tax loss and I think the 30M number may be on the low side. It was a cheap hedge for Solus to employ while shares traded from $.02 to $.04 for well over a year.
10M shares....$200K to $400K....I call that cheap insurance for the courtroom.

Sandpaints,
Was trying to solicit some opinion out of him/her.
There is what I would like to happen and what I think will happen. Odds are far better now than they were simply from the standpoint that there is a heavy hitter in there that wants closure and to move forward unencumbered.

codesilver,

You post plenty of good finds and links related to FCC updates. Things that I would never notice or find. Tells me you are watching this like a hawk. Any opinion of where things stand today and what may happen?

Thanks in advance and thanks for your very valuable posts.