Eutelsat Drops $156 Million, Satellite From C-Band Clearing Plan

during and after the transition" will let it provide comparable services without any new satellites. It said it doesn't expect to need to do any earth station technology upgrades such as compression encoding or modulation equipment. Its cost estimate is now $14.9 million, instead of its previous $170.9 million that included one new satellite (see 2006220006). It said its plan could be further revised, depending on how many of its satellite earth station customers elect for lump-sum reimbursement of their clearing costs. It initially thought roughly 1,000 earth stations were potentially or actually communicating with its C-band satellites, but the number appears to be closer to 1,250. Telesat, in a revised band clearing plan, also lowered its cost estimate to $704,000 to $1 million, instead of its previous $1.08 million-$1.56 million. It said it potentially could be done by June, six months ahead of the first-phase deadline of December 2021. Claro's updated plan, made on clarification, said its moving proposal covers all earth stations it's obligated to serve. SES' amended plan didn't change the $1.67 billion figure. Intelsat, in an update last week, explained its process for repacking customers not offering service in the contiguous U.S. and clarified its thinking about "reasonable costs."