FCC Denies Small Carriers’ Bid to Delay Verizon Airwaves Takeover

• Verizon and AT&T’s acquisitions give them high-frequency airwaves licenses • Small carriers fear deals give AT&T, Verizon a leg-up on 5G market competition

The Federal Communications Commission rejected a wireless carrier trade group’s bid to delay Verizon Communications Inc.'s takeover of Straight Path Communications Inc.'s airwaves licenses, clearing the path for the telecom giant’s rollout of next-generation networks.

Small-to-midsize carriers, represented by the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), have fought to nix the $3.1 billion deal, contending that industry leaders Verizon and AT&T Inc. are using acquisitions to amass and hoard valuable high-frequency spectrum licenses needed for the 5G wireless ...