Understanding mobile spectrum ownership in the United States is fundamentally different from analysing a market where licences are assigned only at national level. U.S. spectrum rights are distributed across multiple frequency bands, licensing geographies, regulatory frameworks and thousands of local markets. An operator may hold one spectrum position in one county and a significantly different portfolio just across the county boundary.
The United States mobile cellular frequency spectrum bands database is designed to make this complex regulatory structure easier to investigate. Instead of presenting a single national spectrum figure, the database allows users to examine who holds licensed frequencies in a particular U.S. market, which bands they control, how much spectrum is recorded, and how those holdings change geographically.
The dataset is updated weekly and currently includes 272,328 processed spectrum blocks, 151,325 processed licence records and geographic coverage across 3,235 counties and county equivalents. It also incorporates historical licence-price information from 34 Federal Communications Commission auctions, creating a combined view of current spectrum holdings, regulatory licence data and historical award information.
From FCC Licensing Data to Geographic Spectrum Intelligence
The U.S. regulatory system contains a large amount of spectrum information, but translating individual licence records into a practical picture of a local mobile market can require substantial processing.
Spectrum Tracker organizes this information geographically so that users can move from a national overview down to individual states and counties.
The central question is straightforward:
Who holds licensed spectrum in this location, in which frequency bands, and how does that portfolio differ from neighbouring markets?
Answering that question requires more than counting licences. A single licence can contain multiple frequency components, cover a geographic market larger than one county, or contribute different amounts of usable bandwidth depending on duplex structure and frequency direction.
The database therefore separates processed spectrum blocks from underlying regulatory licence records and maps those records into local geographic views.
United States Spectrum Dataset: Current Scope
| Dataset Element | Current Coverage | What It Represents |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum records | 272,328 processed spectrum blocks | Detailed frequency records underlying spectrum-allocation views. These are not 272,328 separate FCC licences. |
| Licensing records | 151,325 processed licence records | Regulatory records containing licensee identity, licence references, status and recorded dates. |
| Geographic coverage | 3,235 counties and county equivalents | Allows local-market analysis across 56 state, district and territory codes. |
| Recorded spectrum holders | 1,845 holder labels | Includes national carriers, regional companies, educational institutions and specialist licence holders. Not every holder is a mobile network operator. |
| Auction history | 74,488 licence-price records | Historical pricing and original purchaser data across 34 FCC auctions where the information is recorded. |
The distinction between spectrum blocks and licence records is particularly important. The 272,328 processed spectrum records represent individual frequency components used to construct allocation views, while the 151,325 licence records correspond more closely to the underlying regulatory authorizations.
Why U.S. Spectrum Holdings Must Be Analysed Locally
A national spectrum total can be useful as a high-level indicator, but it can hide substantial regional differences.
The United States uses several licence geographies, and spectrum portfolios created through auctions, acquisitions, legacy allocations and secondary-market transactions are not necessarily uniform across the country.
An operator can therefore have a strong low-band portfolio in one county, fewer frequencies in another, and additional mid-band or millimeter-wave resources in selected metropolitan markets.
County-level analysis helps reveal these differences.
Users can compare:
- which companies hold licensed spectrum in a county;
- which frequency layers are represented;
- how much spectrum is recorded for each holder;
- whether the portfolio is concentrated in low-band coverage frequencies or higher-capacity bands;
- how holdings change between neighbouring counties;
- which regulatory licences contribute to the local allocation; and
- where historical auction-price information is available.
Interactive U.S. Cellular Spectrum Map
A geographic overview of U.S. spectrum holdings is available through the dedicated cellular frequency spectrum map:
https://www.spectrum-tracker.com/USA-cellular-frequency-spectrum-map
The map is designed to make regional differences easier to identify visually. Rather than assuming that an operator's national portfolio applies identically everywhere, users can investigate spectrum ownership at local-market level.
This becomes particularly useful when examining operators whose holdings were built through regional licences, mergers, secondary-market acquisitions or spectrum transactions involving only selected markets.
What an Individual Spectrum Record Can Show
The detailed allocation views go beyond holder-level spectrum totals. For an individual holding, users can investigate regulatory and technical information associated with the underlying record.
| Information Category | Available Detail |
|---|---|
| Commercial identity | Recorded operator or holder label |
| Regulatory identity | Legal licensee |
| FCC identification | Call sign and licence reference |
| Frequency assignment | Lower and upper frequency boundaries |
| Bandwidth | Calculated or recorded spectrum amount associated with the allocation |
| Spectrum classification | Frequency layer / band grouping |
| Duplex structure | FDD or TDD where applicable |
| Direction | Uplink, downlink or other applicable direction |
| Licensing geography | Original licence market and mapped county |
| Licence information | Status, grant date and expiry date where recorded |
Detailed licence tables also provide links to the corresponding FCC record, allowing users to move from the processed database view back to the underlying regulatory source.
Licensed Ownership and Spectrum Leasing Are Shown Separately
One of the more important distinctions in U.S. spectrum analysis is the difference between owning a licence and using spectrum under a leasing arrangement.
The party deploying or using frequencies in a market is not always the same entity that legally holds the underlying FCC licence.
Spectrum Tracker therefore separates licensed ownership from active spectrum leasing.
The detailed allocation interface contains separate views for licensed records and active leases. Ownership values used in the geographic map remain attributed to the regulatory licence holder rather than automatically being transferred to the leasing party.
| Concept | How It Is Treated |
|---|---|
| Licensed owner | Entity holding the underlying regulatory spectrum right |
| Active lessee | Entity recorded as using spectrum through a leasing relationship |
| Map ownership figures | Remain attributed to the licensed owner |
| Detailed allocation view | Licensed and active-lease information presented separately |
This prevents a common analytical mistake: treating leased spectrum as though the underlying licence had changed ownership.
Seventeen Spectrum Layers Cover the Main U.S. Mobile Frequency Portfolio
The U.S. dataset is organized into 17 spectrum-layer groups covering low-band, traditional mobile broadband, mid-band and millimeter-wave resources.
| # | Spectrum Layer |
|---|---|
| 1 | 600 MHz |
| 2 | Lower 700 MHz |
| 3 | Upper 700 MHz |
| 4 | SMR 800 MHz |
| 5 | Cellular |
| 6 | 900 MHz |
| 7 | AWS-1 / AWS-3 |
| 8 | PCS |
| 9 | PCS-G |
| 10 | AWS-H |
| 11 | AWS-4 |
| 12 | WCS |
| 13 | BRS / EBS |
| 14 | 3.45 GHz |
| 15 | CBRS PAL |
| 16 | 3.7 GHz C-Band |
| 17 | mmWave |
The classification makes it possible to study spectrum portfolios as combinations of different frequency layers rather than as one total MHz figure.
Millimeter-Wave Data Includes Major FCC Auction Programmes
The U.S. auction history also includes major FCC millimeter-wave award programmes.
Historical licence-price records cover important 24 GHz, 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz spectrum auctions, where the corresponding data is available in the auction dataset.
| High-Frequency Auction Layer | Included in Auction Dataset |
|---|---|
| 24 GHz | Yes |
| 28 GHz | Yes |
| 37 GHz | Yes |
| 39 GHz | Yes |
| 47 GHz | Yes |
This enables current spectrum positions to be viewed alongside historical award information where the relevant licence and auction data can be connected.
74,488 Licence-Price Records Cover 34 FCC Auctions
The database contains 74,488 licence-price records spanning 34 FCC spectrum auctions.
These records add a historical financial dimension to the allocation dataset by recording original award consideration and original purchasers where that information is available.
This enables users to investigate questions such as:
- which company originally acquired a licence;
- which FCC auction produced the award;
- what consideration was recorded for the licence;
- how historical auction ownership compares with the current recorded licence holder; and
- how auctioned spectrum was distributed geographically.
and many more.
State-Level Intelligence Reports for Business and Enterprise Users
Business and Enterprise users can access state-level PDF reports from the Country Intelligence section of the Business Intelligence dashboard.
Every U.S. state report uses a common executive structure so that different markets can be compared consistently.
The reports include:
- executive perspective;
- market context;
- spectrum portfolios;
- operator and band comparisons;
- geographic distribution;
- licence duration analysis;
- historical award consideration;
- indicator definitions;
- detailed allocation register;
- auction award ledger;
- source references; and
- authorized-use conditions.
Why a Standard State Report Structure Matters
Using the same analytical structure across every state makes cross-market comparison easier.
A user examining California, Texas, Florida or a smaller regional market does not need to interpret a different reporting format each time. The same categories, indicators and terminology are applied across the reporting framework.
This is particularly useful for organisations that need to review several geographic markets rather than perform a one-off spectrum lookup.
Potential use cases include:
- competitive spectrum benchmarking;
- state-level market analysis;
- telecom strategy and business development;
- network-planning research;
- investment and transaction analysis;
- infrastructure-market assessment; and
- regulatory research.
Enterprise Exports: Full USA, State or County
Enterprise users can export allocation data in CSV or Excel format at several geographic levels.
| Export Scope | Availability |
|---|---|
| Complete United States dataset | CSV / Excel |
| Selected state | CSV / Excel |
| Selected county | CSV / Excel |
Allocation exports include data such as:
- spectrum holder;
- frequency boundaries;
- counted MHz;
- geographic information;
- licence references; and
- available licence terms.
Excel workbooks additionally contain supporting coverage and field definitions to help users interpret the exported records.
From Interactive Research to External Analysis
The export functionality allows the database to serve two different workflows.
Users who need to answer a specific market question can work directly with the online maps and allocation tables. Organisations performing deeper analysis can export the underlying allocation data into their own business-intelligence, modelling or reporting environment.
This can support tasks such as:
- building state-by-state holder comparisons;
- measuring spectrum depth by frequency layer;
- grouping licence holdings geographically;
- combining spectrum data with population or infrastructure datasets;
- studying licence-duration profiles; and
- creating internal telecom market dashboards.
API Access Is Under Preparation
Programmatic API access to the United States spectrum dataset is under preparation.
The planned access model is intended for agreed Enterprise use cases where organisations need to integrate spectrum-allocation information directly into internal systems, automated workflows or analytical platforms.
API availability and access conditions remain subject to individual agreement.
A Practical Example of the Questions the Dataset Can Answer
Instead of asking only, "How much spectrum does Operator A own in the United States?", the dataset supports substantially more precise questions:
- How much licensed spectrum does the operator hold in this county?
- Which frequency bands account for that total?
- How does its portfolio compare with competitors in the same market?
- Does the company hold more low-band spectrum here than in neighbouring counties?
- Which exact FCC licences contribute to the local total?
- When were those licences granted and when do they expire?
- Were they originally awarded through an FCC auction?
- What historical award consideration is recorded?
- Is another company actively leasing spectrum from the licensed owner?
- Does the portfolio rely more heavily on coverage-oriented or capacity-oriented frequency layers?
This transition from raw licensing records to market-specific questions is the core purpose of the U.S. spectrum dataset.
Weekly Updates Track a Spectrum Market That Continues to Change
U.S. spectrum ownership is not static.
Licences can move through mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spectrum swaps, regulatory assignments and leasing agreements. Existing licences can also be modified or renewed, while new FCC auctions can introduce additional spectrum records.
The dataset is therefore updated weekly rather than treated as a one-time historical snapshot.
This is particularly relevant in a market where significant spectrum transfers can involve thousands of county-level records even when the underlying commercial announcement describes the transaction with a single national headline figure.
For analysts, network planners, investors, telecom companies and organisations evaluating individual U.S. markets, this creates a more precise way to understand how spectrum portfolios vary across the country and how regulatory rights are distributed between national, regional and specialist licence holders.