AT&T Gets STA to Boost Spectrum for Puerto Rico, V.I.

By John Eggerton
published

The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has granted another special temporary authority (STA) for spectrum sharing in the age of coronavirus. 

FCC chairman Ajit Pai tweeted about the special authorization.

The STA allows AT&T to borrow spectrum from Dish to serve Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands during the pandemic. AT&T has 60 days to use the AWS-4 spectrum to meet expanded traffic demands for teleworkers, home schoolers and more. "I thank DISH for consenting to this use of its spectrum and to the U.S. Department of Justice for its cooperation," said Pai. "I’m grateful to AT&T for requesting this STA and I’m pleased we can grant it.”

[embed]https://twitter.com/AjitPaiFCC/status/1243260947071995910[/embed]

The FCC has already issued STA's to AT&T, as well as Verizon, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile. Dish, Comcast, and Northstar Wireless are among the spectrum lenders.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.