C-Band Alliance, Eutelsat Pushing Transition Plans
Both the C-Band Alliance and erstwhile member Eutelsat are pitching to the FCC transition plans for how to clear 300 MHz of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band. In talks with eighth-floor aides, Eutelsat backed private market-based deals for spectrum clearing instead of an FCC auction. But it worries none of the proposals is detailed and transparent enough to let the agency make a decision. Eutelsat left CBA in September (see 1909030041).
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CBA said it would use tech upgrades and compression to maximize spectrum use, repack customers into higher bands without disruption, and guarantee the 35,000 antennas are tuned and pointed correctly to receive the same content. The coalition anticipates ultimately installing 100,000 filters on 35,000 antennas across the continental U.S., said a docket 18-122 filing. It detailed its reimbursement proposal for the repack: up to $800 per earth station antenna registered with the FCC for installation of filters, up to $100 for each antenna frequency change, $200 per antenna polarization change and $400 for each satellite change. It would cover costs of any needed antenna replacements. It reserves the right to refuse any work request the consortium finds out of scope or not necessary to restore service.
Peter Pitsch, the group's advocacy and government relations head, said rival proposals don't offer comparable level. Nor would they "free up C-band spectrum as quickly or in such a coordinated and accountable manner," he said in a separate statement.
American's Communications Association, which is critical of the CBA plan and pushing its own band-clearing plan, said the revised transition implementation process "only succeeds in highlighting how little the CBA has thought about existing C-band users’ harms, how they would be mitigated, and how many more unanticipated problems its plan may produce." The plan "either does not estimate certain costs or underestimates the true costs" for users, ACA said. "CBA acknowledges that the key encoding and software equipment required for its plan has not even been designed ... and that its cost must therefore remain an unknown." For MVPDs, "the plan reveals that the CBA’s members have abdicated their duty as licensees to serve their customers," the association alleged. "CBA’s inability to even estimate the costs of its proposal suggests that its timeline for completing the task is entirely unreliable.”
Auction 102 would be a good template for how the agency should reallocate 300 MHz of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, Eutelsat said in a docket 18-122 posting Friday on talks with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel, Geoffrey Starks and Mike O'Rielly. It said up to 50 percent of auction proceeds should go to the Treasury, with the rest being allocated to C-band operators. The formula would account for the company's U.S. revenue and stranded satellite capacity capable of serving the U.S., with adjustment for remaining useful life of the satellites.
Satellite operators then would sign binding commitments with the FCC for meeting an agency timetable for clearing tranches of spectrum and managing customers' transition. The company suggested an 18-month time frame after the auction's close for clearing 100 MHz in the top 50 partial economic areas, and 300 MHz throughout the continental U.S. within 36 months of auction close. Whether through filters or low noise block downconverters, replacing or modifying earth stations, or giving funding to customers to cover the cost of moving to fiber, satellite operators should have flexibility, it said. A transition administrator or monitor might be necessary, it said. CBA didn't comment on that.
In meetings with aides to the regular commissioners, Verizon said private market transactions are the quickest route to opening the spectrum for 5G use. SES and Intelsat CEOs met with a Chairman Ajit Pai aide to review the CBA plan, the coalition said.