Lumen is selling its CBRS spectrumLumen is selling its CBRS spectrum

Amid a raging debate over the value of the 3.5GHz CBRS band, Lumen Technologies has apparently decided it's no longer interested in holding those spectrum licenses.

In a new filing with the FCC, Lumen disclosed it is selling all of the spectrum it bought during the FCC's CBRS auction in 2020 to Citizens Band License Company (CBLC). CBLC appears to be backed by two executives – Jonathan Foxman and Daniel Hopkins – who are tied to Cellular One, a longtime player in the sagging market for regional wireless services.

According to Airwave Research, a startup that closely tracks such spectrum transactions, Lumen purchased the 265 CBRS spectrum licenses during the FCC's 2020 auction for around $9.1 million. Cellular One, meanwhile, spent around $200,000 in that auction.

Lumen and CBLC did not provide the financial terms of their deal in their new FCC filing. Companies typically do not comment on such transactions.

Regardless, the transaction comes at an important time for Lumen and the CBRS band more broadly.

The CBRS angle

Lumen was one of a number of wireline network operators that spent millions of dollars in the FCC's CBRS auction. Lumen bid in the auction through its wholly owned subsidiary, Actel.

The FCC investigated Lumen's participation in the auction over concerns that Lumen may have illegally communicated with Midcontinent Communications (Midco) during the auction about possible CBRS cell towers. However, the FCC ended that investigation in 2022 after Lumen started a compliance plan to address such issues.

For its part, Lumen may have been eyeing its CBRS holdings as a way to get into the market for private wireless networks, a market that has been crowded and slow to develop.

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