In what appears to be a preparatory move for the upcoming FCC incentive auction, T-Mobile announced Monday that it will sell $2 billion worth of 6.5 percent senior notes in a registered public offering.
According to a company release, the offering is scheduled to close on Thursday and the notes will be due in 2026.
T-Mobile said it plans to use proceeds from the sale for “general corporate purposes, which may include acquisition of additional spectrum.”
The move is consistent with previous statements from T-Mobile CEO John Legere and CFO Braxton Carter, who have said the Un-carrier plans to aggressively pursue spectrum purchases in the upcoming auction.
“We’ll buy anything that’s humanly possible within our envelope,” Carter said in October. “We don’t have the balance sheet of AT&T and Verizon, so we have to be disciplined.”
Carter said T-Mobile has enough money to purchase enough low-band spectrum to finish covering the United States with LTE, and noted the remaining balance could likely be covered for under $1 billion to $1.5 billion in additional spectrum.
In September, Legere said the Un-Carrier was looking forward to acquiring new spectrum and putting it to use for its customers.
“TMobile is definitely ready and participating and sees this auction as a unique, important opportunity and event,” Legere said on Twitter. “TMobile is going to go hard in this low-band spectrum auction and put that spectrum to good use for our customers!”
