Charter just isn’t in the right place to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction, CEO Thomas Rutledge said in the company’s fourth quarter earnings call last week.
According to Rutledge, Charter’s pending transaction with Time Warner Cable has muddied the waters around the company’s footprint, making it “difficult” to assess its ability to take part in the auction proceedings.
“For instance, even in the Time Warner assets and Bright House assets, we know there’s an MVNO, but we haven’t actually seen it,” Rutledge said. “And so, we have a lot of unknowns in terms of our ability to participate. We’ve considered participating by filing – potentially filing the application. But if the timeline is as projected, we’re not going to really be able to do it, given our regulatory status.”
Rutledge’s remarks last week appear to be more pessimistic than comments made last month in which he characterized the company’s auction participation prospects as “not impossible.”
At the time, Rutledge did say the company’s bid prospects were “unlikely” due to the “awkward” timing of company’s $55 billion merger, but did not definitively rule out participation in the proceedings.
Rutledge’s comments come just ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline for forward auction bidder applications.
Broadcaster applications for the reverse auction were due Jan. 12. The names of broadcasters who filed to sell their spectrum have not been released, but the FCC and National Association of Broadcasters have said they are looking forward to “robust” broadcaster participation.
Last week, Comcast CFO Michael Cavanagh said his company is planning to file for participation in the upcoming forward spectrum auction, but hinted the company may not be a big bidder.
Dish is also widely expected to participate to the tune of $4.7 billion, according to Bloomberg analysts.
Major wireless carriers T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon have also signaled their intent to participate in the auction, albeit to varying degrees. Fellow tier-1 wireless carrier Sprint has said it will sit out the auction, and U.S. Cellular has remained on the fence.
Significant bidding participation by Comcast and the big wireless carriers could help boost forward auction revenues, which some fear may fall below the $45 billion expected by the FCC.
