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T-Mobile scratches lowband itch with Grain's spectrumT-Mobile scratches lowband itch with Grain's spectrum
T-Mobile continues to chase more lowband spectrum, this time through a lease agreement with investment firm Grain Management. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has given up some midband and highband spectrum holdings.
Mike Dano / Light Reading
February 8, 2025
2 Min Read
T-Mobile is leasing spectrum from Grain Management in locations across the US.Source: Airwave Research
T-Mobile filed documents with the FCC to lease access to lowband 600MHz spectrum licenses from investment management firm Grain Management. The licenses are scattered across the US and will likely be used by T-Mobile to reinforce the reach of its 5G signals.
However, T-Mobile is only leasing the spectrum licenses for a period of one year. When the year is up, T-Mobile presumably could renew the leases or ink some kind of agreement with Grain to purchase the licenses outright.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Typically companies like T-Mobile and Grain do not comment about their spectrum transactions.
But T-Mobile's move on Grain's spectrum is noteworthy because it indicates T-Mobile's ongoing interest in lowband spectrum. Such spectrum generally can cover wide geographic areas thanks to its propagation characteristics, but it typically cannot transmit as much data as midband or highband spectrum.
It's likely T-Mobile will be able to put Grain's spectrum to use almost immediately thanks to the capabilities of its 5G radios. That's what T-Mobile did at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic via lease agreements with Comcast, EchoStar and others.
The lowband details
T-Mobile's new leasing deal with Grain covers 26 spectrum licenses in locations ranging from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Portland, Oregon; Sarasota, Florida; and Austin, Texas. According to Airwave Research, a startup that closely tracks spectrum ownership across the US, the total value of the spectrum licenses involved in the deal is around $675.2 million.
Thus, T-Mobile is clearly interested in reinforcing its lowband holdings. For example, T-Mobile in 2023 agreed to purchase some – or potentially all – of Comcast's 600MHz spectrum holdings. That deal's value sits between $1.2 billion and $3.3 billion, depending on how much spectrum T-Mobile ultimately walks away with. It is scheduled to close in 2028.
T-Mobile's deal for Comcast's spectrum came just one year after T-Mobile agreed to buy $3.5 billion worth of 600MHz licenses from another investment company, Columbia Capital.
Midband and highband
As T-Mobile acquires more lowband spectrum, it's either selling or relinquishing some midband and highband spectrum.
To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.
