C-Band Auction Plan Faces Challenges That May Affect December Start

Even before Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai formally unveiled his plan for a C-band spectrum auction to reassign bandwidth for 5G wireless services, legislative and public interest forces began voicing their opposition to or endorsements for the proposal. 

Sen. John Kennedy, (R-LA), who has opposed a big payout to satellite providers, characterized Pai's plan as "much too high" and "highly unfair to taxpayers." Sen Kennedy pointed to a bipartisan spectrum bill (of which he is a co-sponsor) "that would pay down the national debt, modernize public safety and finally free rural communities from their dial-up prison." Referring to the "foreign satellite companies" (European-based Intelsat, SES and Telesat) that operate C-band services in the US, Sen Kennedy said, "We shouldn’t be in the business of spearheading Luxembourg bailouts when there are towns in Louisiana and across the country without access to broadband service.” In Jan 2020, Sens Kennedy, Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Spectrum Management And Reallocation for Taxpayers (SMART) Act, that would cap spectrum clearing reimbursements at $6 billion, inclusive of $1 billion in accelerated clearing incentive payments.

Pai's auction agenda was also quickly challenged by the Democratic chairs of the House Commerce Committee and its Communications and Technology Subcommittee. Full committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), in a joint statement, insisted that the plan "only reiterates the need for legislation."