Sridhar Natarajan

Intelsat is seeking backers for a bankruptcy loan that would keep the satellite service in business under Chapter 11 court protection while it’s waiting for billions of dollars in proceeds from a government spectrum auction. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing would allow Intelsat to address its $14 billion debt load as federal regulators head toward an auction of C-Band satellite spectrum. Intelsat needs to spend $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion to prepare its spectrum for sale, and it could net up to $4.8 billion for handing over its C-Band by certain deadlines.

Frontier Communications, the provider of telecom services in 29 states, is asking creditors to help craft a turnaround deal that includes filing for bankruptcy by the middle of March. Company executives including Bernie Han, Frontier’s new chief executive officer, met with creditors and advisers and told them the company wants to negotiate a pre-packaged agreement before $356 million of debt payments come due March 15. Frontier has been in talks with advisers about possible solutions to its $17.5 billion debt load, which has become a heavy burden as people stop using landlines.