Focus: Spectrum
July 15, 2020
SES Americom filed a $1.8 billion claim in Intelsat’s bankruptcy case on Tuesday, alleging breach of contract related to the C-Band Alliance (CBA). In the filing, SES said the two operators had reached an agreement in the CBA to split control of the CBA and most of the proceeds, with a percentage going to the…
June 25, 2020
Eutelsat has estimated its full cost to clear the C-band and relocate its U.S. customers at $170.9 million. Of that, $150 million is allocated for a single satellite replacement, and the rest for ground station activities. Eutelsat, along with Telesat and Claro, formerly Star One, laid out their plans to relocate U.S. customers from the…
June 22, 2020
Intelsat and SES both filed their C-band spectrum transition plans with the FCC last week on June 19. The operators are working to meet the FCC’s accelerated clearing timeline to clear 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for commercial 5G deployment by the end of 2021, and another 180 megahertz two years later. The operators will…
June 16, 2020
Senator John Kennedy, R-La., questioned the validity of the FCC’s accelerated relocation payments to incentivize satellite operators to clear C-band spectrum as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday. Sen. Kennedy pushed Pai as to why $9.7 billion in accelerated relocation payments that the FCC has…