C-Band Alliance 'Aggressively Looking' at Clearing Over 200 MHz
The C-Band Alliance is "aggressively looking" at ways to make more than 200 MHz of 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum available over a three-year span for 5G, Peter Pitsch, head-advocacy and government relations, told us. FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly may want more than 200 MHz (see 1903210017 and 1905200006). CBA had said 200 MHz was the best it could do near term (see 1810230025). The Competitive Carriers Association, America's Communications Association and Charter Communications are championing a plan they say would provide at least 370 MHz.
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Pitsch said CBA's taking approaches partly from AT&T and Nokia arguments about different technical parameters. He said guaranteeing C-band end users like cable operators remain whole is "paramount," and a route to free up more than 200 MHz would require buy-in from those satellite customers. The CBA first pitched freeing up 100 MHz (see 1802120043), then upped what it said was feasible to 200 MHz.
Odds of a legal stay are low if the choice of the CBA band-clearing process is challenged, Pitsch said.
Eutelsat, while it dropped out of the alliance (see 1909030041), said it still backs the CBA approach, the coalition said. Whether Eutelsat will lobby on behalf of the proposal isn't clear, Pitsch said. The company didn't comment Friday. The CBA, with Intelsat, SES and Telesat, represents 95 percent of U.S. C-band revenue.
It's unclear what role the FCC sees itself playing in an auction, Pitsch said. The agency has a continuum of involvement level options, he said, with CBA hoping it largely stays to the side while giving overarching guidelines. The agency's conducting the auction could run contrary to goals of freeing up the swath quickly, since the FCC is backed up on traditional auctions, he said. If the CBA got permission for an auction this fall, spectrum assignments could be done relatively quickly afterward, he said. An agency-run auction mightn't be for a couple of years, he said.
CBA has numerous options and ideas for an auction process, and has hired Auctionomics to help in crafting, but the final decision on how to proceed won't come until it gets FCC guidance that likely would be in an order, Pitsch said. He said finalizing the auction process would come "very expeditiously" after getting agency guidance. He said whatever route the CBA goes would have "great similarities" to auctions the commission has done.
In preparation for the FCC opting for the CBA approach, the coalition said it's working on transition preparation, including creating a database of the perhaps 30,000 or more antennas that would need filters installed. It said 14,000 are in its database now.