FCC Approves T-Mobile-Grain Spectrum Swap

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2026 – The Federal Communications Commission approved Wednesday a spectrum swap between T-Mobile and Grain Management.

Grain will acquire T-Mobile’s 800 MegaHertz (MHz) licenses in exchange for Grain’s 600 MHz holdings and $2.9 billion in cash.

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The investment firm is looking to sell or lease the spectrum to utilities, rural wireless carriers, or satellite operators providing direct-to-device service.

The FCC granted Grain’s waiver requests for certain license rules that the company said would have made it more difficult for operators to build new networks using the spectrum, which Grain said could take longer than those rules would have allowed for.

But the agency imposed quicker buildout deadlines than Grain had proposed, adopting three and eight year interim and final buildout milestones. The order said the FCC agreed with rural carrier commenters who worried about the prospect of spectrum warehousing while Grain shopped for deals.

“In granting this relief, we impose upon Grain strict conditions designed to ensure that Grain does not warehouse spectrum to the detriment of underserved populations, but instead puts the spectrum to use in a rapid and meaningful way to support a range of terrestrial services and direct-to-device (D2D) operations,” the agency wrote in its order.

The direct-to-device use case was proposed by Grain in March 2026, one year after the application had been filed. The FCC deferred clearing 800 MHz for direct-to-device use until Grain finds a satellite partner and they submit the necessary application.

Grain thinks it can solicit bids and select a direct-to-device operator for the band within 90 days, it told the FCC earlier this year. Under the FCC's order, that process has to begin by Aug. 7, and conclude by Nov. 5.

The winning bidder will have to apply for authorization to use the band for direct-to-device by Dec. 4, 2026.

At least one satellite company already appears interested. AST SpaceMobile said in a filing posted Wednesday that it supported the deal and was “well-positioned to put the 800 MHz spectrum into use now and enable an accelerated build-out requirement for the 800 MHz band.”

AST already has 10 satellites in orbit that could use the spectrum, it said, and was planning to file an experimental application to test that capability “shortly.” The company wanted the agency to grant “immediate” authorization for direct-to-device upon approving the deal, which it did not do.

Verizon and AT&T have deals with AST to provide direct-to-device on their terrestrial spectrum, once the satellite operator has enough units in orbit to support that. The company has been behind schedule on its launches and is aiming to have at least 45 satellites launched by the end of the year, which would allow service in its initial markets.

The 800 MHz spectrum could be used without a partnership with a mobile carrier, something satellite companies have increasingly been seeking for direct-to-device. AST is also looking to use satellite operator Ligado’s exclusive L-band spectrum for a future direct-to-device constellation.

T-Mobile was supposed to sell its 800 MHz licenses to Dish as part of the T-Mobile-Sprint merger. Dish couldn’t come up with the cash, about $3.6 billion, and T-Mobile then auctioned the spectrum. Nobody bid up to the target price and the company was able to keep the airwaves and enter a deal with Grain.

Grain, headed by communications industry veteran David Grain , also owns multiple regional fiber providers, a subsea cable operator, and a portfolio of towers, among other things.