Says open and public auction is way to go

Count Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy among those not supportive of a satellite operator proposal to reallocate C-band spectrum via private sales.

That came in a letter from Kennedy to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, in which he said the FCC should reject that proposal.

The FCC is currently considering how to free up more C-band spectrum for 5G wireless, but Pai told Multichannel News last week that the FCC had yet to make any decision.

The band is used by cable operators and broadcasters for satellite reception of network programming.

Kennedy said he was all for finding more spectrum to win the race to 5G and that mid-band spectrum like the C-band is certainly suited to the task. But he left no doubt he had major doubts about the C-Band Alliance plan. He said the FCC spectrum search has to be fair, open and transparent and said he was concerned the alliance plan met none of those benchmarks.

"A privately managed spectrum sale conducted behind closed doors will favor certain parties, exclude others, and most importantly, lead to the inefficient deployment of valuable 5G spectrum," he said, clearly casting his lot with an FCC auction. "[A] public auction put on by the FCC would allow for the most competitive allocation of licenses to best enable 5G deployment. It will also permit a fair, open, and transparent process."

The C-Band Alliance, which includes Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat, said it will strike secondary-market deals for the spectrum within three years of an FCC decision.

It argues that secondary-market transactions are the best and fastest way to re-purpose the spectrum. "An FCC auction of mid-band spectrum could not take place until 2021-2022 or later. Litigation with current satellite operators could push that date much further into the future. By that time, the United States would be a small object in China’s 5G rear view mirror."

Kennedy is anything but persuaded, calling the plan instead "a fundamental reorganization of the C-band out of public view. The stakes are too high for the FCC to outsource this critical function to unaccountable, foreign-owned private parties.

“Luxembourg shouldn’t reap huge profits at the expense of Louisianans," Kennedy wrote. "A multi-billion dollar, closed-door spectrum deal would mostly benefit foreign-owned satellite companies. The C-band needs to be put up for public auction. Our rural families stand to lose the most when only one or two giant corporations control all of the spectrum access. Competition is what makes America the great nation that it is today.”

The FCC in July voted unanimously to find ways to open up the C-band spectrum (3.7-4.2 Ghz) for terrestrial wireless use, either all of the 500 MHz or some portion of it, and through either an incentive or capacity auction, a market mechanism where incumbents voluntarily strike deals to reduce their footprint, or some other means.