A Detailed View of 2.5GHz Spectrum in the United States May 18, 2021 14:30

Soon we should be hearing about the timing and procedures for Auction 108: 2.5GHz Band.  This auction is also been discussed as the EBS (Educational Broadcast Service) Whitespace auction since it is offering the unlicensed spectrum that was previously reserved for educational groups.  In the maps below, we are going to use the data from our Mobile Carrier - Spectrum Ownership Analysis Tool to highlight the current status of both 2.5GHz sub-bands; Educational Broadcast Service (EBS) and Broadband Radio Service (BRS).

The first map indicates the counties where T-Mobile has up to 80MHz of 2.5GHz spectrum and the counties where it exceeds 80MHz of 2.5GHz spectrum.  This cutoff highlights the markets where T-Mobile spectrum is limited to the BRS (owned) spectrum versus the markets where they have traditional leases to expand their spectrum resources into the EBS band.

The remaining maps are focused exclusively on the EBS spectrum band.  This second map highlights the counties where more than 50% of the EBS spectrum (measured in MHz-POPs) is controlled by the FCC and available in Auction 108.

In the next map, the counties are highlighted where T-Mobile controls 50% of the existing EBS spectrum, either through ownership or leasing.
In the last map, we highlight the counties where a carriers other than T-Mobile or the FCC control more than 50% of the spectrum.  A couple of the region/carrier match ups include:  American Wireless (southeast Utah), C Spire (Mississippi), Northern Michigan University (Michigan) and Redzone Wireless (Maine).