T-Mobile C-Band Plan Could Delay Reassigning, CBA-Commissioned Analysis Says
T-Mobile's C-band clearing plan leaves unresolved critical issues that will likely result in long delays in reassigning spectrum in the band, Auctionomics said in an FCC docket 18-122 filing dated Monday. Auctionomics said it was hired by the C-Band Alliance.…
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It said T-Mobile's idea of requiring satellite operators to participate in an auction and give up some C-band capacity would encourage them "to resist in every way they can," resulting in "a 'Disincentive Auction.'" Auctionomics criticized the plan as not weighing bids by buyers and sellers to find the most efficient quantity or timing of spectrum reassignments. It said T-Mobile's plan tries to make all the satellite operators join a consortium that would make decisions about cost and revenue sharing without providing any incentives for joining. T-Mobile's plan -- "merely a sketch" -- doesn't justify such decisions as the portion of auction revenue that would go to satellite operators or spell out how the revenue would be shared among those operators. It said the T-Mobile plan to try to encourage the satellite operators to give up 500 MHz of C band in exchange for 80 percent of the auction revenue "would eliminate the C-band satellite business entirely." T-Mobile didn't comment Wednesday.