AT&T has stated that it will be a willing participant in next year's FCC spectrum auction after initially balking at proposed rules that would reserve certain airwaves for smaller buyers.

The FCC will be auctioning off valuable bandwidth in 2015 for mobile broadband use, including coveted low frequency spectrums. Low frequency spectrums are preferable in suburban and rural areas due to their penetration and range, while higher frequencies work better in urban cities. Low frequency spectrum is important for companies like Sprint and T-Mobile because increasing their coverage means increasing reception in rural areas where the two lack a presence compared to AT&T and Verizon.

The frequency most sought after at the 2015 auction will be 600MHz. Major U.S national wireless carriers do not currently control a frequency lower than 700MHz. Recognizing how important this is to the future of the mobile market in the United States, the FCC is thinking of reserving 30Mhz in certain scenarios for smaller buyers that would surely get beaten out by the juggernauts AT&T and Verizon (Sprint and T-Mobile). After details leaked out, AT&T threatened to pull out of the auction, citing prejudice.

The carrier, however, retracted its stance on Thursday, stating that it would continue as originally planned.

AT&T has come out saying that "our desire to participate in this auction and our hope for a successful auction is unchanged."

The FCC, apparently, never took AT&T's threat seriously.

"I have a hard time envisioning this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this kind of beachfront spectrum being something that people throw up their hands and walk away from," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said last week.

Carriers have been wary of commenting on the auction, although the top four of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all expressed how vital it is to the future of the U.S. mobile industry.

In the middle of the debate lies the potential of Sprint taking over T-Mobile, reducing the number of major U.S. national carriers from four to three. The move would significantly change the nature of the FCC's idea to reserve amounts of airwaves is based off "current market structure."

According to Reuters, "Any changes or proposed changes in that structure that could undermine the goals of the auction would prompt a review and potential edits, said sources briefed on the proposed rules."

Even though a combined Sprint and T-Mobile company would have less subscribers than AT&T's estimated 110 million, Sprint parent company SoftBank Corp. chief executive Masayoshi Son is adamant about making the deal happen.

"I brought the network war and price war (to Japan). I'd like to bring that to the States," Son said at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to industry officials in March.

"I would like to provide an alternative to the oligopolistic situation that two-thirds of American households can only get access to one or two providers. I'd like to be a third alternative with 10 times the speed and lower price."

The FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, two institutions that need to grant approval for Sprint to take over T-Mobile, have both expressed concern about market consolidation. Winning them over is widely acknowledged as the last hurdle for the deal left.