Are utilities eyeing T-Mobile’s 800MHz spectrum?

Bluewater Wireless is selling its 600MHz spectrum to US utility companies. But so far the company isn’t finding much interest.

That’s because the utilities are waiting to see what happens with T-Mobile’s 800MHz spectrum auction before they decide how to move forward with their plans for private wireless networking, according to a representative from Bluewater Wireless who declined to be named. Among utilities, private wireless networks typically run on lowband spectrum like 600MHz, 800MHz or 900MHz because such spectrum can cover wide geographic areas.

“The utilities recognize that they need a lowband private network,” the Bluewater Wireless representative told Light Reading.

Fronted by longtime wireless executive Charlie Townsend, Bluewater was one of the biggest bidders in the FCC’s 600MHz spectrum auction in 2017 with more than $500 million in winning bids. Today, the company owns 600MHz spectrum in roughly two dozen of the biggest cities in the US.

Earlier this year, Bluewater agreed to sell $27 million worth of its spectrum holdings to Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW). The utility plans to build a private wireless network with that spectrum for grid monitoring and other applications.

But other utilities haven’t yet followed suit.

For its part, T-Mobile said it will finish auctioning a chunk of nationwide 800MHz spectrum sometime this fall. The company has already identified engineering giant Burns & McDonnell as a potential buyer of its 800MHz holdings.

In a court filing last year, Burns & McDonnell said it could purchase the spectrum in order to sell it to its utility customers and others. However, it’s not clear whether the engineering firm will cough up T-Mobile’s $3.6 billion opening bid.

The Anterix angle

T-Mobile’s 800MHz spectrum auction is also important to Anterix, which is specifically focused on selling or leasing its 900MHz spectrum holdings to utility companies.

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