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Verizon / StraightPath 180 Days and Done
Verizon / XO Communications 177 Days and Done
ATT / Fibertower 308 Days and still counting.....
Yes. My perception is the long delay is a good sign that it won't be rejected but they have some serious leg work to do prior to approval. While the delay is long I have to imagine AT&T considers approval in the bag and they probably already know the date when the FCC will announce. Just a little while ago they made the announcement they are going full bore in at least 12 markets with mobile 5G and I would imagine additional markets are in the batters box.
I can't imagine waiting much longer on the ATT/FTWR and VZ/STRP decisions. Both ATT and VZ are ready to roll and build out some markets. On the XO/VZ deal the FCC quickly dismissed the arguments similar in nature to that which we have seen with CCA / TMUS on the ATT/FTWR case. The only petitions/arguments that I can see driving this 120+ day overrun are the ones related to the faulty bankruptcy and then going back to the FCC incorrectly not renewing the licenses. Incorrectly being the term used when you compare the Fibertower Scenario to that of Straightpath.
Day 300 and 120 Days Past the 180 Day Shot Clock.......
T-Mobile talks out of both sides of their mouth and contradicts themselves left and right. Going 600 mhz route but wants to slow down ATT's 39 ghz progress.
Network coverage and 5G. T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray said the operator will continue to build out its geographic coverage area, largely through deploying its 600 MHz spectrum. “The geographic coverage is now extremely close to the Verizon guys,” he said. Ray added that T-Mobile continues to expect to launch a mobile 5G device sometime in 2019 and will offer nationwide 5G coverage in 2020. “The radio we’re deploying [with our 600 MHz buildout] is 5G capable,” he said.
https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-execs-lament-failure-sprint-merger-but-you-never-say-never
TMobile may have carried sway with Obama/Wheeler but not with Trump/Pai. DT is looking to unload TMUS and everyone knows it. They don't have a path, assets, or cash flow to get to 5G so as ATT, Verizon, and laggard Sprint(Far Superior Spectrum Position to that of TMUS) start to make their moves into 5G TMUS will be left behind and thus their value on the open market for an acquisition will continue to erode.
More crying and whining from T-Mobile.
New Pleading #28 on FCC Website. Something should be posted shortly.
Great Read - 600 MHz incentive auction ‘extravaganza’ ends with a whimper
https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/editor-s-corner-600-mhz-incentive-auction-extravaganza-ends-a-whimper
Remember when former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler promised a "spectrum extravaganza" with the agency’s incentive auction of TV broadcasters’ unwanted 600 MHz spectrum licenses? Well it turns out that T-Mobile is now the only major nationwide wireless carrier that’s actually using those licenses.
Sprint never participated in the auction, Verizon said it would participate but then ended up not buying anything and AT&T just inked a deal to sell off all of its remaining 600 MHz licenses.
That’s a pretty mediocre ending to a major effort by American regulators to free up more spectrum to carriers that were arguing that there wasn’t enough spectrum to meet demand, and that wireless networks could slow to a crawl as a result. The incentive auction largely sprang from Congress’ National Broadband Plan in 2010, which tasked the FCC with conducting a first-of-its-kind of auction that paid TV broadcasters to relinquish their 600 MHz licenses so that wireless carriers and others could buy them in an auction.
The “incentive” auction was described as the last time spectrum seekers would be able to purchase large chunks of “beachfront” low-band spectrum. The propagation characteristics of 600 MHz spectrum allows signals to travel longer distances and penetrate buildings better than higher bands like 1800 MHz.
Expectations were high for the incentive auction. Prior to the start of the auction, Moody's predicted it could generate as much as $60 billion in winning bids. After all, AT&T said in 2014 it would purchase between 20 MHz and 40 MHz of spectrum in the auction.
But the auction only ended up generating roughly $20 billion in winning bids. Verizon surprised just about everyone by purchasing nothing. AT&T purchased around $1 billion worth of licenses, but it is now selling all of those licenses—analysts believe it’s because AT&T no longer needs that low-band spectrum because it is getting FirstNet’s 20 MHz of nationwide 700 MHz spectrum.
T-Mobile was the big spender during the incentive auction, dropping around $8 billion on licenses around the country. (That figure was surprisingly close to the maximum $10 billion T-Mobile said it might spend.) And just this month, T-Mobile said its 600 MHz coverage is now live in 586 cities, and that it will launch more than 12 new 600 MHz-capable smartphones in 2018.
Other major incentive auction winners included Dish Network, Comcast and U.S. Cellular. U.S. Cellular will likely build out its 600 MHz holdings, but it’s unclear whether Dish and Comcast will actually use theirs. Dish has promised to build an NB-IoT network using its vast spectrum holdings, but NB-IoT technology is specifically designed to only need tiny amounts of spectrum, so it’s the equivalent of Dish wielding a nuclear weapon in a knife fight. And Comcast could well use its 600 MHz holdings for its Xfinity Mobile or machineQ efforts, but the company hasn’t said a word about its plans.
So what does all this mean? It means that wireless carriers like Verizon are increasingly using advanced wireless technologies (think advanced MIMO, LAA, small cells and carrier aggregation) to do more with their existing spectrum holdings. It also means that carriers today have more spectrum options than they did in 2010, considering the FCC may soon release more 3.5 GHz spectrum via its ongoing CBRS proceeding.
But mostly it means that wireless is changing from a coverage game to a capacity game. 600 MHz is an excellent choice of spectrum to coverage large geographic areas, and that’s exactly how T-Mobile is using it. But it’s not necessarily what most carriers are looking to do today. Today, carriers are trying to figure out ways to increase the amount of data their networks can handle in dense urban areas, where their existing wireless customers want better, faster services.
Enter 5G. One of the key elements of 5G is that it can make use of millimeter-wave spectrum bands, or those above 28 GHz. Due to its propagation characteristics, millimeter-wave spectrum transmissions can support huge amounts of data across very short distances.
Indeed, even as AT&T sells its 600 MHz holdings its working on buying millimeter-wave spectrum from FiberTower.
And what does this mean for T-Mobile? As the country’s only major 600 MHz supporter, T-Mobile now faces an uphill climb because it will need to convince device makers and network equipment suppliers to specifically support its own spectrum holdings. That’s probably not a huge challenge given T-Mobile’s momentum in the market, but it’s still an issue. (To be clear, it’s an issue other operators face too; for example, Sprint is the nation’s only major carrier with 2.5 GHz holdings.)
But I think the real conclusion here is that wireless is a fast-moving game, and players’ needs and strategies can quickly change from one year to the next. Ajit Pai, you’ve been warned. – Mike | @mikeddano
From a planning perspective ATT and Verizon need to know what they will or won’t have well ahead of time. I have to assume there is a wink wink nod nod to both ATT and VZ that they are good to go and that they along with the FCC will pair up the 39 ghz spectrum accordingly to maximize its effectiveness and value and the 3 parties will walk away happy.
None of the handset manufacturers are really based out of the United States. I doubt the Trump Admin / FCC looks to foster any relationship with Apple(Left of Left and nearly all manufacturing is foreign). ATT and Verizon are as American as you can be in the space and I think Trump/FCC/Pai want them out front and leading the way with 5G. T-Mobile and Sprint(Germany/Japan) have little to no sway with the FCC and their 5G plans require much more cash. ATT and Verizozn have quite the Fiber Footprint while T-Mobile and Sprint.....not much if any. All along I can see Comcast hooking up with Sprint but not T-Mobile. Just a far superior spectrum position with Sprint and Son is far more forward thinking and strategic than DT who is and has been looking to offload T-Mobile for some time. Yes I think the ATT/FTWR deal is done and has the FCC's blessing. I can't imagine we wait much longer for the particulars of the deal.
Come Monday it will be something like 117 days past the 180 day shot clock which by their rules should have warranted an explanation post back in September as to why they missed the 180 day deadline. I take it as very positive that it is taking so long and that they won’t give any indication as to why. Back to my theory that they have to figure out how to unwind this mess and get the licenses to ATT unencumbered. I phoned and emailed in back in Novmember but could reach anyone directly or get a reply as to why they are running over.
I don’t think ATT or Verizon play the games that T-Mobile does and I don’t think they are worried about T-Mobile for the next phase of their movement towards 5G. T-Mobile is up for sale and has been for a long time. Does the parent want to throw more and more money at it and go the 5G route? I don’t think they have the cash flow or the assets to make a run at 5G and compete with ATT and Verizon. Comcast/Tmoible or Comcast/Sprint could be that viable third player but I don’t see T-Mobile. I honestly think the FCC needs to unwind and rectify quite a bit for a smooth transition of the licenses over to ATT. ATT doesn’t care who gets paid but they do want the licenses unencumbered. The FCC errors on refusal of renewal and the Resulting Fibertower BK along with the FCC treatment of strp left a lot of things wide open.
110 Days Past the 180 Day Shot Clock...........
100 Days past the 180 Day shot clock.....
My apologies. I was assuming the 1250 MHZ Cap from October 2015 NPRM. I dropped the ball that it was updated late October 2017 to 1850 MHZ:
The Report & Order includes rules that continue to promote competitive access to spectrum through scalable competition policies that avoid excessive concentration of licenses and promote innovation in the efficient use of spectrum. Specifically, it adopts an ex ante spectrum holdings limit of 1250 MHz applied to auctioned spectrum in these bands, and a spectrum threshold of 1250 MHz for case-by-case review of secondary market transactions.
Verizon Ex Parte:
Verizon will be under the updated millimeter wave threshold of 1850 megahertz in all markets following these two transactions, and thus these transactions do not even trigger an enhanced review based on aggregation.
Cap was updated in October 2017:
Taking into consideration the additional 1700 megahertz of mmW spectrum that we are making available in the 24 GHz and 47 GHz bands, we add 600 megahertz, or approximately one-third of this additional spectrum, to the 1250 megahertz mmW spectrum threshold, for a combined threshold of 1850 megahertz for proposed secondary market transactions.
All things considered it appears they are lining up all the prime MM Wave spectrum to be scooped up by ATT and Verizon. Somewhat understood as Sprint and T-Mobile appear to be years behind.
I believe with what they had, XO, and STRP they will be over the cap. Don't think FTWR's 24/39 combined will put them over anywhere but not 100% sure what ATT may currently have. I would think they have to come together and swap some licenses around. If the blocks in major metro areas are not contiguous they have far less value and purpose. I have to imagine at this point a decision or announcement of some sorts is coming from the FCC on ATT/FTWR. For me the 94 Day overrun on the clock is a tell that they had some major issues to work through but could that take another 90+ days I don't know. The whack against Net Neutrality was a done deal as soon as Trump was elected but is a boom for Cap Ex in the industry.
ATT, Verizon, and The FCC will sit down and trade some baseball cards and line the 39 ghz licenses up into those wider channels. Verizon will need to unload some of them to get under the total mm-wave cap more so than ATT. Enriches the value to all involved including the FCC who have the leftovers to auction off. In select dense markets they will fetch premium $. 274 Days into the process and 94 Days past the 180 day shot clock...............
It all boils down to proliferating 5G. Att and Vz can push is forward the hardest.
Net Neutrality gets whacked 3 to 2.
5G investment will be much greater without Net Neutrality.
Huge win for our cause.
ATT, Verizon, Comcast etc.. swing a very large stick in Washington with contributions and PACs. Note that of the XO/VZ Deal, ATT/FTWR Deal, and STRP/VZ Deal you had only from the Telecom/Business area: T-Mobile, CCA, and some very small local players filing petitions to deny. No Sprint, Dish?, Comcast, Charter, Google etc….
If Pai is successful in the next few years and he oversees and facilitates an era of rapid 5G deployment, economic growth, and jobs then he has essentially written his ticket to a top slot at any of the big companies provided that is what he wants. Big part of the reason for turning back Net Neutrality. Not sure what the huge debate is about as Pai has a 3-2 advantage on any vote and the overturn of NN will happen. Most undoubtedly Cap Ex will increase billions each year in aggregate for the Telcos and Big Cable players if they can get some of the government regulation and uncertainty out of the way. I firmly believe Pai is trying to tee up AT&T and Verizon to go full bore on 5G and that includes transferring the necessary spectrum and getting out of the way. If 28/39 were approved this early and ATT and VZ went after it as hard as they did then we can assume that is the prime spectrum they desired to head to the races.
I suppose the FCC could be working behind the scenes an using the Fibertower Transfer as a bargaining card to try and get AT&T to divest itself of CNN. From what I have read so far it seems that AT&T’s case is strong to get all of TWX with minor concessions that don’t include divesting CNN. Regardless of what happens with TWX, AT&T still needs to go 5G and continue to work their content acquisition strategy. The DOJ/AT&T/TWX Trial Date is set to begin March 19 and the Merger/Acquisition Termination Date is April 22.
I would expect a decision related to Fibertower well before the first date or else we are looking at being approximately 190 days past the FCC Shot Clock Deadline of 180 days.
370 Days versus a 180 Day Shot Clock. At this point it doesn't sound ridiculous given we are 90 Days past with no response or word from the FCC as to why.
Considerations in “Stopping the Clock”
The Commission may “stop the clock,” that is, suspend its informal timeline, when the Commission’s ability to process and review the merits of an application is impeded by justifiable delay, the parties’ actions, or external events. Stopping the clock in such circumstances is intended to provide a more accurate picture of the time the Commission finds necessary to process a particular transaction. Stopping the clock does not itself delay a decision in a proceeding; it merely reflects that a decision could be delayed as a result of some external factor. When this occurs, the Commission ordinarily sends the parties a letter explaining the reason for stopping the clock and posting that letter on the web page. The following are common, but non-exhaustive, examples of reasons for stopping the clock:
The Commission extends the time for filing pleadings.
The Applicants do not respond to a request for information within a stated time period.
The Commission finds it appropriate to await resolution of issues pending before the relevant U.S. law enforcement or national security agencies.
The Commission receives significant new information about an application, or the parties file a substantial amendment to the application.
If the Commission stops the clock, it generally will restart it as soon as the event justifying its stoppage has been resolved such that the Commission’s review process is no longer impeded. On rare occasions the clock may be reset to a prior date.
90 Days over the 180 day deadline with no comments or release as to why. I don’t see the FCC denying the transfer and essentially giving Verizon Year’s running room ahead of ATT with regards to 5G. In order for 5G to flourish they both have to be racing. I am just trying to gauge how much weight ATT and FCC are placing on how jacked up the FCC/FTWR/BK/BK process was in that if they don’t handle this right the spectrum is shelved for years to come.
I am assuming that your are saying the FCC is going to pass on the December 18 deadline thus the default is the spectrum gets turned back over to Fibertower? I took that as a given one way or the other.
They still need to approve the transfer over to AT&T. They may simply approve the transfer and let AT&T and Fibertower figure out the entire BK mess and wash their hands clean of everything. Maybe there is a wink wink nod nod that AT&T you need to push this through clean and pay who you need to pay and get this rolling.
I see Pai as a proponent of the Telcos and Cable Companies but he really can't favor Verizon over ATT, Comcast, or Charter etc....
Sandpaints, I need a little more insight as to what you are thinking. I still stand by by rationale that AT&T desperately needs Fibertower free and clear and throwing around a few hundred million is nothing compare to what they stand to gain and defend. Verizon is probably already 6-12 months out in front of them and cannot afford to fall too much further behind given what happened with LTE. We can all remember Verizon pushed hard on LTE while AT&T went the HSPA...HSPA+....LTE route and it cost them dearly in the churn/subscriber area.
AT&T Labs wants to expand 5G tests to 37, 39 GHz bands in several markets
https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/at-t-labs-wants-to-expand-5g-tests-to-37-39-ghz-bands-several-markets
AT&T Labs is already testing base stations and antennas in the 28 GHz band in several locations, and now it wants to expand those tests to the 37 and 39 GHz bands.
The test markets include Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana. The operator was granted FCC permission in August to conduct the 28 GHz tests through August 2019, and it wants to add the additional bands through the remainder of the license term.
In its application materials with the FCC, AT&T said tests performed under this experimental license will provide information for optimizing system parameters being discussed in 5G standard activities and provide data on coverage, capacity, latency and other key performance indices.
“Applicant will use this data to study potential designs for its 5G systems, contribute to 3GPP 5G standards development, and gain insight into customer perception and use patterns,” AT&T Labs said.
AT&T announced in August that it would be expanding its fixed wireless 5G trials to business and residential customers in Waco, Kalamazoo and South Bend by the end of this year. Already in Austin, Texas, it reported seeing speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second and latency rates well under 10 milliseconds.
Universities, hospitals, churches, restaurants and other small businesses have been among those invited to participate in trials; in a car wash business in Austin, for instance, the owner boasted about giving customers the chance to trial 5G in the waiting room.
AT&T said the channel bandwidth in its 37 and 39 GHz trials will be multiples of 100 MHz, up to a maximum of 800 MHz, using a Time Division Duplex scheme for uplink and downlink transmission. The air interface protocol will be vendor-specific prototypes based on LTE-Advanced protocols as well as the required improvements and modifications for the 5G system. Transmissions will include common multimedia data as well as high-speed internet access for on-demand video and online gaming.
RELATED: AT&T, Nokia complete 39 GHz trial with DirecTV Now service
Earlier this year, AT&T quietly acquired a company called FiberTower, which has spectrum in the 39 GHz band, but Verizon won a bidding war for Straight Path Communications, which covers the entire nation with 39 GHz spectrum.
Verizon also closed on its acquisition of XO Communications earlier in the year, winning the right to lease XO’s 102 LMDS licenses in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands.
Since they have not put out anything on why they are 85 Days past the 180 Day Shot Clock, that in itself to me is very telling.
They have a mess on their hands.
Ultimate goal is to get this spectrum in the hands of AT&T, have AT&T and VZ off and running with 5G Buildouts, and have many jobs and economic growth as a result of.
But you have the FCC which had numerous flaws with their termination of Fibertower's spectrum and as a result of those flaws Fibertower was able to get the courts to place the spectrum in remand. As a result of the FCC's actions Fibertower goes into Chapter 11.
And in the meantime you have StraightPath who committed fraud who didn't do anything with their spectrum but claimed to and the FCC had no checks and balances and allowed them to skate off with billions in a windfall and a minor penalty. And the FCC based much of their termination argument on StraightPath's fraud saying Fibertower didn't do enough but look at what StraightPath did providing all that service. Fibertower spent $300M+ in Capital on Wireless Networks and Development of Products delivering services in 13 Major Metro Markets while Straightpath....I don't think they spent even a million on equipment.
And then you have the actual Fibertower Chapter 11 case which I believe as a result of the petitioners has the FCC's eyes wide open as another major layer in the mess they are looking at and are a big part off. Levy and Fahy couldn't have served it up much better than what they did. And then their follow up replies to the Joint Opposition were even more solid. Not sure if they would have had it under consideration wihtout the petitions but they sure do now.
So back to the Ultimate Goal. How does the FCC unwind, repackage, serve all of this up in a fashion so they don't look anywhere near as bad as we know they do and that Michael Lewis doesn't write a book based on this and have a movie as well? They have to be figuring out a way to get this spectrum in AT&T's hands and minimize any potential blowback on their operations or lack of operations and checks and balances.
That is what I am assuming is causing the delay and their lack of explanation for the delay. You can't serve up licenses on a silver platter (XO/STRP) for Verizon and then cut the legs out from under AT&T if you want proliferation of 5G and the benefits. These 2 players represent 60-65% of the total wireless market and are a close #1 and #2.
On Day 265, 85 Days past the 180 Day Shot Clock, and there is no word from the FCC as to why.
Transfer of Control of XO licenses to Verizon took 177 Days
Pleading Cycle Established on 06/05/2017
Decision rendered and Transfer of Control on 11/29/2017
The same arguments rendered by CCA and TMobile in the ATT/FTWR transfer were also made in the XO/VZ transfer aside from taking back the licenses and auctioning them off.
The ATT/FTWR transfer so far has taken nearly 3 months longer and the clock is still running.
Not sure what you guys think but I am thinking the FCC and ATT has some serious shit to work through and iron out prior to making this deal happen.
Closing in on 80 days past the 180 day shot clock. This was no slam dunk for ATT and Fibertower but with the FCCs thoughts on CCA’s petitions and dismissing them so quickly(xo/vz deal) I am very positive that the FCC is looking at the BS that went on during Chapter 11 along with their own errors in not renewing the licenses which all worked together in gutting the shareholders and unsecured creditors. Are they giving serious consideration to the idea that yes the Chapter 11 plan can be revisited and reopened causing extensive delays in putting these licenses to work?
Thank you Codesilver.
To give you an idea of what a similar transaction was. Here is the timeline of the XO / VZ millimeter wave license transfer.
https://www.fcc.gov/transaction/verizon-xo
218 Days Total(04/12/2016 to 11/16/2016)
48 Days of Shot Clock Pause(07/07/2016 to 08/24/2016)
170 Total Net Days to make the decision
As we all know we have seen zero letters or documents posted indicating that the shot clock has been paused. But we still have T-Mobile and the CCA meeting with the FCC to discuss well after the shot clock should have been expired.
Not sure what to make of it but am positive that the extended delay and ambiguity means they have a lot of loose ends to tie up to make this work for AT&T, FCC, and 5G. My biggest fear was that they would push this through as quickly as possible and sweep us under the rug. This gives me positive thought that we are significantly in the mix of the final resolution transferring the licenses. Now whether they are trying to figure out a way to completely screw us or buy us off is a different story. I would assume as always their safest and most efficient play is the latter.
74 Days past the 180 Day Shot Clock(03/16/2017) without any document or letter indicating why. Other cases that extend the shot clock often have a letter sent to both parties and posted on the FCC's site as to why they are stopping/delaying the shot clock. With Fibertower and AT&T there has been nothing.
https://www.fcc.gov/general/informal-timeline-consideration-applications-transfers-or-assignments-licenses-or
It is the same as when Wheeler was in control and Pai then like Clyburn now sat in the minority. We are at day 252 in the pleading cycle. I take it as a good sign that it is running well past the 180 days.
From 05/31/2017:
AT&T's (T) Management Presents at the Cowen and Company 45th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Broker's Conference Transcript
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4077788-ts-t-management-presents-cowen-company-45th-annual-technology-media-and-telecom-brokers?part=single
Colby Synesael
Now want to shift over to Millimeter Wave Spectrum.
John Donovan
Sure.
Colby Synesael
So, you recently bought Millimeter Wave Spectrum with your acquisition of FiberTower and recently lost out on a bidding war through Straight Path, do you consider Millimeter Wave Spectrum the next beachfront spectrum and in what function do you expect to utilize the Millimeter Wave Spectrum you received with FiberTower?
John Donovan
Several questions nested in there. Increasingly, spectrum is becoming real estate and it's harder to discern beachfront versus the stuff that you have here in the city that just faces the next building and that is because once you have your coverage layer set, the economics of your footprint get established.
And so now you start to think about what's best for carrying video? What's best for the cheapest equipment the economics and so what's important about Millimeter Wave is it's the launch spectrum for 5G and 5G as a network is the most amazing technology that I've seen in like my whole career maybe IP is on par with it but a few other things and so it was important to us to get spectrum to launch 5G to be in the early 5G game and so that's what FiberTower afforded us the opportunity to get launch spectrum.
Now we're going to want to augment that with some additional spectrum for capacity in Millimeter Wave over time, but there is a spectrum auction planned from the FCC that will be aftermarket opportunities we think as well.
From 05/17/2017:
AT&T's (T) Management Presents at 4th Annual MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit Results - Conference Transcript
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4074190-ts-t-management-presents-4th-annual-moffettnathanson-media-and-communications-summit-results?part=single
Craig Eder Moffett
I know with a huge transaction like Time Warner on your plate, it's hard to as a CFO to even imagine what comes next. But we already hear people talking about, well, what about the synergies that could come from the satellite business with DISH Network or more content? Or is there a sort of – how do you think about the different options that come after Time Warner?
John Stephens
So the first thing is probably paying down some debt. That's the first thing. That's the thing that comes first. And we have a great tremendous cash-generation machine, where we can buy these assets. So let me get that, first that will be our focus. But if you look at things like what comes next? Well, quite frankly, we need to get through the FiberTower and work through it in a very respectable manner the FCC to get approval for that, then we will move to that auction that is going to be coming up probably, here hopefully by the end of 2018, but certainly, really
Craig Eder Moffett
The millimeter wave ..
John Stephens
Yes. I look at 1400 megahertz of spectrum auction at offer. I would assume that anybody who buy a Straight Path would be interested in buying any more may be limited, so that participation that will give us an easy path to finish that off. You can think of things like that, it's a very easy, doable.
FCC Wants to Open More High-Band Spectrum for 5G.
http://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/fcc-wants-to-open-more-high-band-spectrum-for-5g/d/d-id/738295
In my opinion this makes it even more pressing for ATT to land Fibertower free and clear. In the arms race for 5G delivery Verizon is out front right now having sealed up XO spectrum and having Straightpath waiting in the wings. ATT and Verizon need to get out front and seperates themselves with a great amount of lead time from the Cable Cos, Sprint/TMUS, and whatever the Tech Cos(Goog, FB, Amz etc..)throw at 5G. Mainly it is about getting the service up and running and taking a huge bite out of cable. If Fibertower were approved today I would estimate that ATT and VZ are at least 2-3 years out in front of Cable in delivering 5G.
From the Seeking Alpha Discussion with Ray M:
He pointed out it's not in any parties' interest for the licenses to be tied up in court for a couple of years. AT&T wants it closed out.
I just can't see ATT/FCC/FTWR risking the unsecured or shareholders lobbing a grenade into the party from the cheap seats making everyone scramble and causing delays. If the deal is $1.5B to $2B what is a couple hundred million off of your overall return to secure the deal? And by a couple hundred million I mean you pay off the unsecured and the shareholders get a fair distribution and you has the Fibertower Bondholders still make out well with both your bonds and whatever shares you scooped up as well. I know I sound like a broken record but those bondholders were accumulating shares for pennies as it was a simple cheap hedge to protect against what we have going now. And now it creates far more incentive for those bondholders to say yes include shareholders in the deal...heck what do we care...we own the bonds and 75% of the shares.
Anyway I think we will find out much more before the end of the year. We are at day 250 on the 180 day shot clock with zero insight from the FCC on what is going to happen.
From the Unsecured Creditors Argument(Doc 1033 01/08/2014):
These are just a few. The entire document is a good read. Amazing that not only did they want everyone cut out from the spectrum that sat in limbo but they wanted broad general releases from any culpability from their actions. The unsecured pointed out that the court cannot do that.
The Debtors must also modify the Plan so that value is distributed
appropriately in the event that the Debtors successfully appeal the FCC’s decision to terminatethe FCC Licenses. Throughout these cases, the Committee has been supportive of the Debtors’
efforts to challenge and appeal the FCC’s decision. It is the Committee’s view that such a reversal would be the only way that the Debtors and/or Reorganized Debtors achieve a valuation
that would satisfy all of the Debtors’ prepetition debt. Although the Committee has advocated for the pursuit of the Estate D&O Claims for the benefit of general unsecured creditors, such
claims represent only a chance to recover a small percentage of the debt owed to unsecured creditors. A successful appeal is certainly a better outcome for these chapter 11 cases and it
appears to be a real possibility given the sums and efforts being expended to either reverse the FCC Opinion or reach some other resolution with the FCC. If the appeal is successful, general
unsecured creditors are entitled to share in the value of a reorganized entity if the senior secured creditors’ claims are satisfied. The Debtors have not satisfied their burden of showing that the 2016 Noteholders are entitled to receive all of the potential upside associated with the Full Portfolio and, based upon the Committee’s analysis, the Debtors will be unable to do so.
The proposed releases are especially troublesome to the Committee given the circumstances of this case and the consistent attempts by the 2016 Noteholders to control the Chapter 11 Cases and retain all value. Under the Plan, there remains a real possibility that the Reorganized Debtors will receive back the Full Portfolio with value in excess of the 2016 Noteholders’ debt and all other creditors are left with interests in the Litigation Trust that has no viable claims or prospects for recovery. The effect, in sum, is that the 2016 Noteholders will have used the chapter 11 process to take ownership of the Debtors’ valuable spectrum portfolio
and cut out all general unsecured creditors from sharing in any of that value. The Committee is not willing to consent to a release for the 2016 Noteholders under these circumstances. Accordingly, the Committee respectfully submits that the proposed releases are prohibited in the Fifth Circuit and render the Plan unconfirmable. Any attempt by the Debtors to distinguish the facts of this case must be rejected because “there is nothing in the Pacific Lumber opinion which . . . can reasonably be read to limit its ruling to the facts of that case.” Pilgrim’s Pride, 2010 Bankr. LEXIS 72 at *16.
Conclusion:
38. Based upon the foregoing, the Plan is not confirmable because (a) the Plan does not reflect an accurate or supportable valuation of the Reorganized Debtors; (b) the Plan and Litigation Trust Agreement provide complete control over the Estate D&O Claims and
Avoidance Actions to the 2016 Noteholders; and (c) the Plan includes broad releases that are prohibited in this Circuit. The Committee respectfully requests that the Court deny confirmation
of the Plan.
One has to imagine that a decision by the FCC is close. We are 243 days past March 16, 2017 well beyond the 180 day cycle with zero insight as to what the FCC is thinking or planning. Of all the petitions to deny the two lengthy one's and their replies to the joint opposition had the most persuasive arguments for their cause but of course I would be biased. Then to read the legal briefing submitted by Scalia's outfit(Posted by Sandpaints) submitted in 2016 outlining why the FCC erred so badly along with the Straightpath decision you would have to believe the licenses are returned. So with the situation being the same pre-BK I would think their would definitely have to be some resolution to the claims of unsecured creditors and shareholders. That is why I posed the question yesterday as to I have a hard time believing that the unsecured would walk considering their involvement and arguments during the BK process. Perhaps they are letting things all play out prior to making their move, ATT/FTWR/FCC knows this already, and will resolve all outstanding potential issues that could hold up the deal. Again thinking positive but I just find it hard with all that has transpired that the Unsecured Creditors would not still have their head in the game.
Another ex-parte from T-Mobile...
ATT / Verizon Partnering
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/11/13/16643678/att-verizon-cell-towers-tillman-infrastructure
AT&T and Verizon have partnered with a third company to build hundreds of cell towers, Verizon announced today. The third company, Tillman Infrastructure, is a private company that makes and owns towers, and it will construct the towers to suit AT&T and Verizon.
The new towers are going to be added in locations in need of more coverage. AT&T and Verizon may also relocate equipment from current towers to serve these new ones.
It’s notable that the two carrier giants chose Tillman Infrastructure, a relatively small company based in New York, instead of any of the top three cell tower companies in the US: American Tower, Crown Castle, or SBA Communications. Executives from both carriers indicated that the decision to go with an industry underdog was purposeful.
Verizon’s chief network officer Nicola Palmer said these new partnerships would improve customer experience and also help cut costs. “It is imperative to reduce operating costs,” Palmer said. AT&T’s SVP of global supply chain echoed that sentiment, saying, “We need more alternatives to the traditional tower leasing model with the large incumbents. It’s not cost-effective or sustainable.”
Construction on the first towers will begin early next year, and the towers will go live soon after they’re built.
Sandpaints Question:
Others feel free to chime in. Do you find it interesting that the unsecured creditors and Arthur Samberg(6-8M Shares Approximately) did not put anything forward in order to be heard by the FCC? Do they think they are done and gone or do they know something us message board Joe's don't know that is positive about the deal for unsecured/common shareholders?
The unsecured creditors put forth the biggest fight to the garbage valuation that Tom Scott and the Bondholders placed on the spectrum assets. They even had one of there analyses essentially blacked out from public consumption(The Flynn Document). I would have thought this would have gotten the unsecured up on their high horse and charging but maybe they are making moves behind the scenes and not through the FCC? Or maybe they are waiting for the FCC to complete their process and then make their move? They are far smarter than I but I like to think positive and imagine they have some angle at this still.