$1.5 billion

The difference between Verizon's winning bid and that of rival AT&T for wireless spectrum holder Straight Path Communications. Verizon last week agreed to buy Straight Path for $3.1 billion in stock. Following a month-long bidding war, Verizon came out on top of AT&T by offering $3.1 billion in stock, beating AT&T's bid of $1.6 billion. The new deal represents a 404 percent premium over Straight Path's closing stock price of $36.48 on April 7, one business day prior to its entry into a merger agreement with AT&T. Verizon's Straight Path win will give the carrier valuable --and hard to come by -- millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum licenses that cover the entire U.S., including within the top 40 markets. The wireless spectrum will give Verizon an advantage when building out 5G networks, solution providers say.