Investor Chamath Palihapitiya and his boutique venture capital firm Social Capital are looking at coming into the TV incentive auction in a big way, spending as much as $10 billion on 600 MHz spectrum, said a report in Re/code. The new venture, Rama, would use software from one of Palihapitiya's companies, LotusFlare, to help manage and organize a new network, he reportedly said. Preston Padden, former Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition executive director, had a brief response in an email: “WooHoo!” Palihapitiya didn't comment. He's an electrical engineer and partial owner of the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

T-Mobile expects a very successful TV incentive auction, Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said Thursday at a Morgan Stanley financial conference. “There is a dearth of low-band spectrum and there’s a dearth of licensed spectrum, period,” Ray said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of interest in the spectrum.” He predicted it would be difficult for any carrier to pass up the opportunity to buy 600 MHz spectrum if they can. The auction is going to be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to level the playing field for T-Mobile US versus the other national carriers who have always had low-band spectrum,” said T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Braxton Carter, also speaking at the conference. T-Mobile plans to raise about $6 billion in capital before the auction but could spend as much as $10 billion, he said. Carter also predicted T-Mobile will see relatively affordable spectrum as a result of the FCC's decision to set aside reserve spectrum for competitive carriers in many markets. Peter Ewens, executive vice president-corporate strategy, said T-Mobile will be in the market for additional 700 MHz spectrum right up to the start of the incentive auction quiet period Jan. 28.

Many unknowns remain about the TV incentive auction and it's still too early to make predictions about Verizon’s participation in the spectrum sale, Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said Tuesday at a Wells Fargo investor conference. Shammo said Verizon sees the 600 MHz spectrum as at best useful for supplementing its national 700 MHz footprint. He downplayed any Verizon interest in Dish Network’s AWS-3 holdings.

Pointing to possible harm to the over-the-top (OTT) market, Dish Network officials want the FCC to deny approval of Charter Communications buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable. Dish was a major opponent of Comcast's now-dead attempt at buying TWC, citing potential harm to OTT competition. "The only difference [this time] is Charter doesn't own NBC," Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said Monday in a conference call on Q3 financial results. Some thought his comments on the incentive auction, meanwhile, signaled Dish may not go big on the auction.

CTIA and NAB were unable to resolve a key question on the broadcaster repacking after the TV incentive auction: Should the FCC stick with its current 39-month deadline for clearing the spectrum or make more decisions on timing after the auction?

AT&T and Verizon will be eligible to bid for incentive auction reserve spectrum in many markets where they now hold less than 45 MHz of low-band spectrum, and that's a point being missed by many investors, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said Thursday in a research note. The FCC released information Oct. 15 in a public notice that listed all of the markets in which each of the four major national carriers is reserve eligible (see 1510160065). By Fritzsche’s calculations, AT&T qualifies to bid in 242 markets covering 81.8 million POPs and Verizon in 112 markets covering 58.7 million. Their eligibility overlaps in 69 markets with a population of 19 million POPs, she said. While that means T-Mobile will face off against Verizon or AT&T in many markets, the news isn't all bad for the carrier, she said. T-Mobile already has 700 MHz A-block licenses covering 190 million POPs and recently bought an additional 20 million POPs, she said. T-Mobile will also be helped by Sprint’s absence from the auction and Verizon’s signaling that it may not be that active in the auction, Fritzsche said. She said neither Verizon nor AT&T is reserve eligible in Chicago, the biggest market in which T-Mobile doesn't own 700 MHz spectrum. “In our view, this, in addition to Sprint's absence in the auction, still makes [T-Mobile] well positioned to strategically acquire 600 MHz spectrum in certain markets to augment its existing 700 MHz network,” she said. “But this auction may not be as easy as a cake walk as most think for Team Magenta!”

T-Mobile offered a positive take on the TV incentive auction Tuesday, in comments by CEO John Legere as the carrier released Q3 results. The tone of a call by company executives with analysts was upbeat as T-Mobile reported it continues to take customers from its rivals. T-Mobile reported 2.3 million total net adds, including 1.1 million postpaid adds.

The FCC released its order on the methodology to be used during the TV incentive auction to predict interservice interference (ISIX) between broadcasters and wireless providers. The vote was 5-0, though Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly both had quibbles with some decisions. The order largely follows the approach approved last year on ISIX methodology (see 1410170053). The agency affirmed its decision from last year not to adopt a cap on the aggregate amount of new interference a TV station may receive from other TV stations in the repacking process.

The FCC provided clarity on when operations start once a licensee starts to deploy in the spectrum, CTIA and NAB said, and the FCC determined a provider “commences operations” when it conducts site commissioning tests.

Recent comments by carrier executives raising doubts about whether they will bid in the TV incentive auction are more than just gamesmanship, industry officials said Friday, responding to comments Thursday by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1510220041). Wheeler suggested wireless industry comments on the auction are mostly “positioning” and typical “shenanigans” seen before any major spectrum auction.