Charter Pushes for FCC-Crafted C-Band Auction, Challenges CBA Plan
The FCC needs to decide the right amount of C band to allocate for terrestrial use and then set up a competitive bidding process, Charter Communications said in a docket 18-122 posting Monday. It said such an auction could take…
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12 to 18 months, with the spectrum "ready for 5G use" as soon as 36 months after an order. It said the agency could require bidders to reimburse satellite providers and earth station licensees for relocation costs, and pay a "reserve charge" that would be a percentage of auction revenue to compensate them for "intangible and other costs" stemming from giving up spectrum. It called the C-Band Alliance (CBA) proposal "unprecedented and unlawful" and said it runs against U.S. security and economic interests to let foreign-owned satellite operators decide the amount of C band designated for 5G. The cable operator said that so many wireless carriers, small satellite operators, technology companies, public interest groups and cable ISPs oppose the CBA proposal shows the legal challenges the FCC could face, while an agency-controlled reallocation is least likely to see delays due to litigation because it's squarely within authority. It said the CBA proposal would spawn "backroom deals" for spectrum, and the group's assertions of reallocation in 36 months are "fanciful" given the unprecedented nature of its plan. “Apparently it was legal and proper for the cable companies to make allocation and sale decisions for critical spectrum in 2012 when they sold their AWS privately to Verizon and kept all the proceeds," emailed CBA Executive Vice President Preston Padden. "This is the Washington swamp at its worst. Cable is simply trying to protect their monopoly on high-speed broadband in 85 percent of American homes."