T-Mobile, through its subsidiary NSAC LLC, has sued the School Board of St. Lucie County, FL for breaching provisions of a spectrum lease agreement for frequencies in the Educational Broadcast Service at 2.5 GHz by attempting to sell them to another company. The school system holds two licenses to use eight channels of spectrum in the Fort Pierce, FL area.
In November 2021, the Board informed NSAC that it had received an offer for the licenses from a third-party competitor to NSAC, WCO Spectrum LLC (WCO), for $6,795,000. Three months later, in February 2022, the Board informed NSAC that it had received another offer from WCO for $7,550,000.
NASC said its lease agreement with the school system prohibits the board from assigning the licenses to a third party if it is a competitor. NSAC stated it has the right to information to see if it is a bona fide offer and then match that offer if it wants. NASC has the right to take part in the process if the school board solicits bids for the spectrum. NASC alleges that the school board refused to provide any of this information and is in breach of these provisions of the lease agreement.
WCO Spectrum’s website says it is a private investment firm that invests in EBS spectrum licenses to “create maximum value for all EBS license holders.”
“The FCC previously gave EBS licenses to educational institutions, at no cost and allowed the institutions to lease their spectrum to wireless operators. But schools weren’t allowed to sell the license itself,” WCO said. “In April 2020, the FCC changed these rules to allow educational institutions to offer and sell their EBS licenses to any buyer prepared to pay what the institution believes is fair market value. Now any owner of EBS licenses can sell their license to qualified commercial buyers.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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