Verizon keeps snapping up spectrum and small carriers

Verizon’s thirst for spectrum appears unquenchable.

After all, the operator is widely expected to dominate both the ongoing CBRS spectrum auction and the upcoming C-band spectrum auction. Further, Verizon has also been purchasing spectrum licenses around the country on the so-called “secondary market,” directly from the companies that own the licenses.

In the past six months, Verizon has purchased most of the spectrum licenses from two small wireless network operators, Chat Mobility and Blue Wireless. And according to Brian Goemmer, founder of spectrum-tracking company AllNet Insights & Analytics, those are just two of almost a dozen spectrum transactions that Verizon has been involved with this year.

Goemmer said that Verizon has acquired spectrum from license holders ranging from AT&T (via a spectrum swap) to Spotlight Media to Orion Wireless to Strata Networks. He said that, in total, Verizon has gained 126 million MHz-POP in locations across the country. The MHz-POP calculation is applied to most spectrum transactions and reflects the number of people covered compared with the amount of spectrum available.

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