Last month we saw Sprint, T-Mobile and several other groups ask the FCC to put Verizon's purchase of AWS spectrum from a handful of cable companies on hold. The agency hasn't gone that far, at least not yet, but it has asked Verizon to share some more information on both the spectrum transfer as well as its current holdings. Part of the information that the FCC wants relates to recent claims that Verizon has made about how it believes it'll reach maximum capacity on its spectrum (both 3G and 4G) in some markets as soon as next year and across its entire network by 2015. The FCC has also asked Verizon to explain how its proposed spectrum swap with Leap Wireless will affect its plans for the cable company spectrum. Verizon has been given until March 22nd to respond to the FCC's inquiry.
In their explanation for why they'd like the FCC to pause its review of Verizon's spectrum purchase, Sprint, T-Mobile and others said that the documents submitted to the FCC concerning the deal were heavily redacted, so it'll be interesting both to hear more on the matter from Verizon and to see how Sprint and T-Mobile react. It's not known exactly when Verizon will respond to the FCC, but the carrier has said that it'll "respond completely and rapidly" to questions about the transfer, so we shouldn't have to long to wait before more is revealed. Stay tuned!
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