John Legere, the unconventional CEO of T-Mobile US, described the blockbuster AWS-3 spectrum auction as a disaster for consumers – arguing it was further evidence of unfair dominance exerted by AT&T and Verizon Wireless – although he was in cheerier mood about the company’s Q4 results, which saw margins improve along with top-line growth.

In a blog railing against the outcome of the AWS-3 auction – which looks set to swell government coffers by $45 billion – Legere said it was a success for the US Treasury, but a “disaster for American wireless consumers”.

“AT&T and Verizon showed that they can, and will, dig into their deep pockets to corner the market on available spectrum at nearly any cost,” he went on. “To add insult to injury, the FCC’s rules actually allowed companies that don’t provide wireless service at all to buy up huge amounts of spectrum and sit on it for ten years! The results are not good for consumers. Three companies alone spent an insane $42 billion between them, grabbing a ridiculous 94 percent of the spectrum sold at this auction.”

T Mobile US emerged as a relatively conservative spender in the auction, even though it still committed $1.8 billion on paired-frequency licences. The operator’s outlay was just 4 per cent of the $44.9 billionn the auction raised, with AT&T responsible for 41 per cent ($18.2 billion), Verizon 23 per cent ($10.4 billion) and Dish 22 per cent ($10 billion).

“Fortunately, T-Mobile has a good amount of mid-band spectrum to support our network,” insisted Legere in his blog. “So we were able to be pretty conservative and strategic in this auction. That’s fantastic news for T-Mobile and our customers, but next time we may not be as lucky.”

He was, of course, referring to the upcoming “incentive auction” of 600MHz airwaves, currently held by broadcasters, which is slated for the beginning of 2016.

Legere argued that if the US government wanted a competitive wireless market, they would need to establish auction rules to reflect that.

First, he said, the 600MHz auction shouldn’t be delayed “supposedly so they [AT&T and Verizon Wireless] can restock their coffers”.

Second, he said, “rules need to promote competition by reserving 40MHz or at least half of the available spectrum in the next auction for sale to the competition” – that is, anybody other than AT&T and Verizon Wireless. “Third, change the rules so that this valuable spectrum is actually used to provide service to consumers rather than allowing it to be collected and traded like financial securities,” argued Legere.

“Best year of growth”
Legere was in calmer mood as he reflected on Q4 and full-year results. “2014 was the best year of growth in company history,” he proclaimed. “Our Uncarrier moves helped us blow away the competition. The best is yet to come as the future looks bright in 2015.”

There was good reason for the T-Mobile US chief to be upbeat. While strong revenue growth continued – and that was to be expected given the self-styled Uncarrier continues to lure more customers with aggressive pricing and attractive data offers – there was also a solid adjusted EBITDA performance.

Full-year adjusted EBITDA stood at $5.6 billion (within guidance), and up 6.0 per cent year-on-year. Q4 EBITDA, again on an adjusted basis, was up 41 per cent year-on-year, to $1.8 billion (and 30.1 per cent sequentially).

T-Mobile US attributed the EBITDA increase “primarily due to higher branded postpaid and prepaid revenues from growth in the customer base as well as disciplined cost control.

Q4 service revenue, year-on-year, was up 13.5 per cent, to $5.87 billion, while full-year service revenue grew 17 per cent, to $22.37 billion.

Net income during the three months ended December 2014 was $101 million, compared with a loss of $20 million in same period 2013.

Full year net income was $247 million (FY 13: $35 million).