T-Mobile requests to test 2.7GHz and 4GHz in 6G spectrum pipeline

　　T-Mobile has applied for experimental licenses at the FCC to test prototype equipment in the 2.7GHz and 4GHz bands that the US plans to make available for 6G in the next few years.

　　The carrier requested temporary permission for two years to use the midband spectrum to evaluate "experimental prototype" basestations and devices at six sites at its headquarters and lab in Bellevue, Washington, according to the applications filed last week. [Ed note: Hat tip, Steve Crowley.]

　　If the licenses are granted, the testing would allow T-Mobile to assess how the prototypes work in real-world environments and gather more data on how 5G or 6G will work with existing federal users in these bands.

　　T-Mobile wants to use the 2690MHz-2790MHz segment of the 2.7GHz band from November 2026 to November 2028. Its application argues the license is in "the public interest" because it will be testing new equipment "to provide better service" to customers.

　　Further, it said the work will help "the Administration's goal to promptly make the 2.7GHz band available for next-generation wireless services as well as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's objective to 'free up spectrum for 6G,'" according to its application.

　　In the 4GHz band, T-Mobile applied to test prototypes in 4800MHz-4900MHz for two years from November 2026 to end of October 2028. The band is allocated to federal users for fixed and mobile services.

　　Verizon also recently applied for an experimental license to demonstrate 6G use cases in the 4.8GHz-4.9GHz band.

　　Both bands fall within the spectrum that NTIA is studying for commercial, licensed use as part of the new US spectrum pipeline, which includes 1.6GHz (1675MHz-1695MHz), 2.7GHz (2700MHz-2900MHz), 4.4GHz (4400MHz-4940MHz) and 7GHz (7125MHz-7400MHz).

　　In previous grants, T-Mobile tested 6G prototype equipment from Ericsson and Mediatek operating in the 6425MHz-6825MHz band and prototypes from Nokia running in the 7125-7525MHz band.

　　Such tests are common among carriers and equipment suppliers for various reasons as new spectrum becomes available.

　　Setting sights on 2.7GHz auction

　　The FCC aims to hold an auction for 2.7GHz in 2028, following the upper C-band (3.98GHz-4.2GHz) auction in July 2027.

　　T-Mobile is excited about both, naturally. The upper C-band, which the carrier calls C-band "2.0," and 2.7GHz are "adjacent to holdings that we have," said T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference earlier this month.

　　Before 2.7GHz or any of the other bands under study can be auctioned, there is a painstaking process to work out what to do about the federal users that are currently using this spectrum. T-Mobile's latest FCC applications for test licenses are an indication of these efforts.

　　For example, the part of the 2.7GHz band it wants to test is allocated to US government agencies for Earth Exploration Satellite, Radio Astronomy, and Space Research services, as well as a smaller portion used for Meteorological Aids and Aeronautical Radionavigation. T-Mobile said it would coordinate with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

　　T-Mobile has already started work with federal users in the 2.7GHz band. In July, T-Mobile was granted special temporary authority, for six months to December 21, 2026, to test 2690MHz-2800MHz spectrum at the FAA's facility in Oklahoma City and at the National Weather Service's radar operations center in Norman, Oklahoma.

　　The NTIA and FCC certainly have bees in their bonnets about getting as much of the spectrum pipeline auctioned as soon as possible. They hope to hold as many as five auctions by the end of 2028, according to the NTIA.

　　The ambitious target is helped by a new memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget that allows the FCC to start auction preparations at the same time as NTIA's repurposing studies. Previous OMB guidance prevented these processes from running in parallel.

　　FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reportedly said last week that auctions planned in the next couple of years could bring in $100 billion, according to Reuters. After the upper C-band, the agency is moving ahead with actions in "the 7GHz, 1.6GHz and 2.7GHz bands," Carr posted on X.