T-Mobile said growth continued in Q4, with 1.9 million total net additions and 1.1 million postpaid phone adds. The carrier said it added 3.6 million postpaid phone subscribers in 2017. Postpaid churn was T-Mobile's lowest ever at 1.18 percent. CEO John Legere said the company has soared in the five years since he told CES that the carrier would “take a stand against a stupid, broken industry.” T-Mobile has gone from 33 million customers at the end of 2012 to nearly 73 million, Legere said Thursday. T-Mobile had a “lagging 3G network” then, and now has a 4G network that is “blazing fast," he said. The recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had a net effect of $2.2 billion on earnings. After going big in the TV incentive auction, Legere said that at the end of 2017, the company had turned on its 600 MHz spectrum from the auction in parts of 28 states, covering 300,000 square miles. T-Mobile offered two 600 MHz-capable phones at the end of last year and expects to have at least 12 available this year, he said. Legere said the carrier added nearly 2,800 stores in 2017. “With a Sprint merger officially off the table for the time being, T-Mobile is focused on continuing to grow its business organically through retail and network expansion,” Technology Business Research wrote investors. “T-Mobile will sustain revenue and subscriber growth over the next two years by sticking to its core Un-carrier strategies and will capitalize on Netflix On Us to cement its position as a value leader in the U.S. postpaid market.” Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson said T-Mobile’s stock has struggled since it called off a possible Sprint deal (see 1711060068). “Shares have nicely rebounded from their lows after the merger was called off, and have outperformed over the past three months, but over a year, they have lagged,” Moffett wrote. “Lately, they have struggled to do much more than tread water.” They closed down 5.1 percent at $58.88 as the market overall fell.

Microsoft representatives met with Nick Degani and Alison Nemeth, aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, urging further action on the company’s 2016 petition seeking changes to the rules for white spaces devices in the 600 MHz band. Microsoft said then the rules were “overly cautious in a number of respects that will significantly hamper consumer services.” In the latest filing, in docket 14-165, Microsoft said the FCC should “adopt policies that efficiently use spectrum resources throughout the 600 MHz band, permitting White Spaces technologies to improve broadband access in rural communities.” Former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley, also represented Microsoft at the meeting.

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau approved grant of 600 MHz licenses bought in the broadcast incentive auction by four additional bidders. The licenses cleared were bought by the Iowa RSA 2 L.P., Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, SAL Spectrum and Smith Bagley. The FCC has been working through license applications after approving the grant of the first licenses in June to national players (see 1706140048).

Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel dissented Tuesday on an order creating a new Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) within the FCC, which was approved 3-2 (see 1801230066). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said the order was strengthened since it was circulated to ensure the office plays a major role in policy formation. Officials told reporters after the meeting the office likely would have under 100 staffers.

T-Mobile officials met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff on antenna standard rules for the 70 and 80 GHz bands. “Since the conclusion of the incentive auction, T-Mobile has been rapidly expanding and strengthening its LTE network and laying the groundwork for a nationwide 5G network using its 600 MHz spectrum,” T-Mobile said in a filing in docket 10-153. “Critical to the success of these efforts is access to gigabit backhaul.” T-Mobile said it has found that the bands, with their light licensing approach and 10 GHz of available spectrum, are “ideally suited to providing rapid access to these essential links which will provide high speed connections between access points and T-Mobile’s core network.”

AT&T’s decision to sell 600 MHz licenses it bought in the incentive auction (see 1801080017) doesn’t have negative implications for T-Mobile, the top bidder in the auction, Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche emailed investors Friday. “After reviewing T’s [AT&T’s] bidding activity, it is clear to us that T made a strategic decision to stop bidding on 600 MHz licenses during Stage 1 Round 22,” Fritzsche said. “We suspect this was driven by T’s confidence it was going to win the FirstNet contract, along with 20 MHz of 700 MHz and $6.5 [billion] that came with it, and opted to deemphasize its auction bidding activity.” The outlook remains bright for T-Mobile, she wrote. “Based on our conversations with spectrum experts this past week -- we remain even more enthused about [T-Mobile’s] spectrum portfolio and the opportunity it has to run with the 5G message.”

The FCC needs "to make both mid- and high- band spectrum available to enable the full suite of 5G services," said T-Mobile, which said it would launch 5G in the 600 MHz band. In meetings with Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly and aides, "We discussed actions and plans by countries around the world to provide mid-band spectrum, including in the 3.5-4.2 GHz range for 5G services and the need for the Commission to move rapidly to make spectrum in this range available in the U.S.," said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-258. "To preserve U.S. leadership in wireless technologies, we urged the Commission to complete the rulemaking proceeding intended to update the regulations governing 3550-3700 MHz band and to initiate steps to auction Priority Access Licenses in that band in 2018." T-Mobile sought an NPRM "covering, and [to] otherwise accelerate its consideration of, the use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band for terrestrial mobile broadband networks," the company said. "We discussed the need to move quickly to auction the millimeter wave bands allocated for terrestrial mobile use in the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding. ... Auctioning all bands together will result in a more robust and competitive auction."

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau approved the long-form applications for 600 MHz licenses bought in the broadcast incentive auction, said a public notice Tuesday. Licensees of the 75 new licenses included Spectrum Financial Partners, with 23 licenses, and Tstar 600, with 12. The agency approved the first grants of licenses bought in the auction in June (see 1706140048).

Columbia Capital’s acquisition of 16 incentive auction licenses in 11 cities from AT&T wasn’t a surprise since AT&T likely got caught buying licenses it didn’t want or need, industry officials said Monday. AT&T already had low-band spectrum from the original 700 MHz auction, and picked up access to 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum nationwide through its FirstNet contract. The two companies didn’t comment Monday and haven't disclosed the purchase price. AT&T bid just $910 million for 23 licenses in the auction, which ended last year (see 1704130056). AT&T filed a document at the FCC indicating it would transfer its 600 MHz holdings to LB License Company, an affiliate of Columbia Capital, an Alexandria, Virginia-based investment firm, which specializes in wireless. Earlier, Facticia reported that LB was trying to raise $928 million for undisclosed expenses. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America tweeted “@ATT now has access to public safety spectrum nationwide (700 MHz 'D Block').” He said “600MHz was insurance, but [AT&T] has plenty of pricey low-band spectrum for coverage; will put it's [sic] focus now on lower-cost, higher-bands for capacity.”

Sinclair’s proposed buy of Tribune is a threat to competitive wireless carriers, the Competitive Carriers Association said in a series of meetings at the FCC. “CCA described the concrete, transaction-specific injuries to mobile broadband competition that would ensue if the transaction were approved,” said a filing in docket 17-179. “Sinclair has a demonstrable incentive to exploit its position as a 600 MHz incumbent to deny wireless carriers the nearly $20 billion worth of spectrum they have purchased unless Sinclair’s preferred ATSC 3.0 technologies are incorporated into wireless handsets.”