Whether T-Mobile will be an aggressive bidder in this summer's AWS auction is a question analysts are trying to figure out. It certainly has the greatest need for 3G spectrum, and it's significantly behind its competitors in building a high-speed data network. In a report, Lehman Brothers said it expects T-Mobile to bid as much as $6 billion for spectrum. "T-Mobile is in the weakest spectrum position of the four national players," said the report. "Consequently, despite management's consistent talking point that 'it will be rational,' we expect T-Mobile to be an aggressive player in Auction 66." Vendors have pointed out to me that T-Mobile, whose strategy is to offer cheap voice services, sees WCDMA primarily as an asset for voice capacity. With all the hype around data services, WCDMA offers a significant jump from GSM in voice capacity.
To find out more about T-Mobile's potential bidding strategies:
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