Pai Suggests Up to $9.7B in Incentive Payments for C-Band Clearing; Dec. 8 Auction Start
A public auction of 280 MHz of C-band spectrum is targeted to start Dec. 8, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Relocation costs for incumbents -- an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion -- will be covered by auction winners, he said. He said satellite operators then should be eligible for up to $9.7 billion in accelerated relocation payments for clearing the lower 100 MHz in 46 of top 50 partial economic areas by September 2021, and remaining 180 MHz by September 2023.
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It's "in the public interest" to make the spectrum available as soon as possible, and such payments will align satellite company interests with public interests, Pai said this afternoon. He said the Miscellaneous Receipts Act makes it unlikely the FCC can give the incumbent satellite operators a cut of proceeds. Those incentives would come from the winning bidders, not the FCC.
Pai said the draft order would be released Friday, and that he had circulated it for a vote at commissioners' Feb. 28 meeting. He called this one of the most complicated matters the FCC has tackled during his chairmanship. He said 280 MHz is an “appropriate balance” of reserving enough spectrum for incumbent uses and still a significant amount. There also would be a 20 MHz guard band.