Carrier Wrap speaks with Recon Analytics to take a stab at dissecting the latest quarterly results from Verizon, Sprint and AT&T
In a somewhat rare occurrence, three of the nation’s four largest wireless carriers reported their latest quarterly results within days of one another. Those three included AT&T Mobility, Sprint and Verizon Wireless.
(T-Mobile US was a day late to the party, so not included in this latest wrap, but we will get to them later.)
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless posted results inline with most expectations, as both operators continue to expand their focus outside of the traditional mobile telecom space. A more compelling read came from Sprint, which jolted investors into action due to a few positive numbers and continued hope for the future.
On this week’s Carrier Wrap, we spoke with Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, to get his opinion on the latest results. Entner reiterated his view regarding AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless looking to become more than telecom operators, but continued to have questions over Sprint’s future.
Entner also touched on the Federal Communication’s Commission ongoing 600 MHz spectrum auction proceedings, which are currently on track to begin the forward auction process Aug. 16. However, a doubt cloud is hanging over the process as the recently concluded reverse auction resulted in television broadcasters setting an $86 billion clearing target to free up the maximum of 126 megahertz of the 600 MHz spectrum. That amount came in well above expectations, leading many to note the FCC will likely need to conduct additional bidding stages in order to hit financial levels in line with bidding demand.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler acknowledged the government agency may need to conduct further reverse auction stages should forward auction bidding not meet the current $86 billion clearing target. Those additional stages could result in less spectrum being transitioned from television broadcasters to mobile telecom operators.
Make sure to check us out again next week when we speak with Dan Hays, principal at PwC’s Strategy& division, to dig deeper into the 600 MHz spectrum auction, looking at what the current conditions might mean for the auction’s timeline and what impact it might have on “5G” spectrum needs.
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