AT&T Looking to Lease More 3.45 GHz Spectrum
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said planned auctions could bring in $100 billion
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2026 – AT&T is looking to lease some additional 3.45 GigaHertz (GHz) spectrum licenses from N Squared to support its wireless service.
The application was first noticed by amateur radio operator Anthony Jones on X.
AT&T is looking to lease licenses covering 25 markets for three years. N Squared paid $76 million for the airwaves in 2021.
The company also petitioned the Federal Communications Commission Friday to raise the power limits in the band, where AT&T has a large presence.
AT&T recently spent $23 billion on 3.45 GHz licenses from EchoStar, which the carrier has already activated since its existing radios support 3.45 GHz.
Mike Dano, top industry analyst at Ookla, said on LinkedIn that AT&T would get 20 megahertz in most markets, but would get 40 megahertz in three markets: Sarasota, Florida; Nampa, Idaho; and Bryan, Texas.
Ookla had not recorded any AT&T fixed wireless speed tests in those cities as of August, Dano said.
While the new spectrum would increase AT&T’s capacity for fixed wireless, the company focused in its application on improving its wireless service.
“With more unpaired mid-band spectrum, AT&T can substantially boost network throughput, increasing speed, decreasing latency, and – above all – allowing more customers to enjoy high-quality service simultaneously,” the company wrote.
On AT&T's earnings call in July, CEO John Stankey said he wasn't interested in acquiring spectrum solely for the purpose of expanding fixed wireless service.
In some markets, AT&T’s spectrum access post-lease would exceed FCC limits aimed at preventing excessing consolidation. The carrier said it wouldn’t be reducing competition, since N Squared isn’t providing service, but would become itself a better competitor against Verizon and T-Mobile.
AT&T previously applied in January to lease 3.45 GHz spectrum from another auction participant, Blue Ridge Wireless. That application was approved in February, according to the FCC’s licensing system.
As Dano noted at the time, around the time of the Blue Ridge application the FCC sent letters to several 3.45 GHz license holders saying it would not extend buildout deadlines associated with them. That would incentive those companies to monetize the licenses before they were revoked.
“The bottom line here is that AT&T is looking to deepen its spectrum holdings in select markets around the country,” Dano said in his post. “Doing so will most likely improve the performance of its network. And this is all noteworthy in light of recent FCC efforts to auction off more spectrum for cellular carriers.”
Carr: 2028 auctions could bring in $100 billion
Last week at an event hosted by wireless industry group CTIA, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said planned auctions could bring in more than $100 billion among them.
Next year the agency is auctioning off 160 megahertz of upper C-band spectrum, and is planning on 2028 auctions in the 1.6 GHz, 2.7 GHz, and lower 7 GHz bands. Carr has previously said the upper C-band auction bidding could reach $60 billion.
“Who knows what it’s going to be between all these auctions? You could easily see $100 billion go into spectrum over the next couple of years,” he said last week. “When you look at the size of all these companies, and potentially new companies that are interested, that’s not going to be an issue at all from my perspective.”
In an investor note Monday, Wolfe Research analyst Peter Supino said Carr’s comment caused wireless carrier stocks to dip. Each is still down since the CTIA event on Sept. 16.
“We're surprised that Carr's comment surprised anyone, but we agree with the market's conclusion,” he wrote. “Big spectrum auctions have historically driven telecom leverage up to levels that require re-directing free cash flow from buybacks/acquisitions to debt repayment.”
