FCC Approves Verizon Spectrum Lease Deal With Nextlink; 'Low' Prospects of Harm
The FCC approved Verizon's de facto spectrum leasing arrangement with Nextlink, a subsidiary of XO Holdings, in an order issued Monday by the Wireless Bureau. Verizon plans to lease Nextlink spectrum associated with 93 local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) licenses and nine 39 GHz band licenses covering about 63 percent of the U.S. population. The bureau said the likelihood of any public interest harms "at this point in time is low."
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"We note that this is a proposed lease, and not a proposed acquisition, and that at the latest, the leasing arrangement would terminate by the end of 2018," said Wireless Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins in the order in ULS File No. 0007162285. "In addition, Verizon Wireless’s post-transaction spectrum holdings across the LMDS (28 GHz) and 39 GHz bands do not raise any particular competitive concerns in light of the current state of the marketplace. Further, we find that some public interest benefits are likely to be realized, such as the expeditious use of this spectrum for the potential introduction of innovative 5G services to the benefit of American consumers."
Verizon emailed a statement from Senior Vice President Will Johnson: “We appreciate the FCC’s prompt consideration and are pleased by the approval. The lease will give us access to key spectrum that will be important in Verizon’s efforts to develop and deploy 5G. And it will help us stay on track to be the first company to commercially deploy 5G in 2017.”
The Wireline Bureau is still considering Verizon's planned buy of XO Communications and its wireline assets from XO Holdings. The bureau recently paused its nonbinding 180-day review clock on Day 86 as it awaits further documents from the companies (see 1607200079).
Critics had asked the FCC combine its reviews of the two Verizon wireline and wireless deals with XO and Nextlink (see 1605040021). Verizon and XO objected to that (see 1605310038).