C-Band Alliance Offers More 5G Spectrum to FCC

Daniel Goldberg (Telesat), Steve Collar (SES), Stephen Spengler (Intelsat), Rodolphe Belmer (Eutelsat). Photo: Business Wire

The C-Band Alliance (CBA) has changed its proposal to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), adding up to 200 MHz of mid-band C-band downlink spectrum to support 5G wireless deployment. The alliance said the spectrum could be cleared dependent upon demand for 5G wireless, while protecting existing C-band users.

The updated commitment will be reflected in comment filings due Oct.29 under the FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proceeding. The proposal increases by 80 percent the amount of spectrum that could be made available for 5G terrestrial use as compared to the initial proposal made by Intelsat and SES.

The CBA, the entity created to facilitate clearing and repurposing of C-band downlink spectrum, was formed by Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat, and Telesat. The group’s proposal aims to balance the needs to protect the C-band user community, which includes TV and radio programming distribution to over 100 million U.S. homes, as well as private commercial and government media and data networks with the need for rapid 5G network deployment across the United States.

CORRECTION – The headline and opening paragraph of this story was changed to accurately reflect that the C-band Alliance offered additional spectrum to the FCC and did not request additional spectrum.