So let’s make this a bit more clear: AST and T-Mobile already have signed contracts covering 800 MHz. The FCC wouldn’t condition a grant on “existing agreements” unless staff had seen them. That’s new information — not speculation, not advocacy filings, but confirmed contractual privity. And the timing: AST gets 30 days to run live tests on this exact spectrum, with real phones, right in the middle of the window when Grain (the spectrum’s incoming owner) is deciding who its D2D partner will be. AST is essentially auditioning for the lease with the incumbent’s blessing already in hand. The paperwork confirmed AST is further along with T-Mobile/Grain on 800 MHz than the public record previously showed. $ASTS
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