Verizon Continues to Acquire AWS-3 Licenses March 24, 2020 11:47

Earlier this month, Verizon filed to acquire all of Orion Wireless' paired AWS-3 spectrum.   This is Verizon's third acquisition of AWS-3 spectrum in the last six months. Last year Verizon filed to acquire AWS-3 spectrum from Cypress Cellular and Blue Ridge Wireless.

Geographic Coverage: 

The map below depicts all of Orion Wireless' AWS-3 licenses.  15 of Orion Wireless' licenses are for the AWS-3 G block and one for the AWS-3 I block.  This acquisition provides Verizon an additional 10 MHz of spectrum (5x5) in the in the areas where only Orion only controlled one license and 20 MHz of spectrum in two Minnesota counties where they control both the G and I blocks.

It is also interesting to look at how this spectrum will fit with Verizon's existing Band 66 spectrum.  Below is an output from our Spectrum Grid where you can see all of Orion Wireless' spectrum (OWL).  In most counties, the spectrum is not contiguous with Verizon's existing spectrum assignments, but in 5 Iowa counties, the Orion Wireless spectrum will provide Verizon with a larger second LTE channel ranging from 10 to 15 MHz.