Advanced Television

Intelsat, SES ask FCC for more time

June 20, 2018

By Chris Forrester

Satellite operator SES and Intelsat have written to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington DC, asking for a 60-day extension to the deadline for their clients – mostly US cable and IP operators – to register their C-band headend dishes.

The move is needed as the two satellite operators gear up to discuss freeing up at least 100 MHz of their C-band spectrum for potential use by the USA’s cellular operators as a boost to 5G.  The FCC has promised a rapid examination of the pros and cons of the C-band reallocation of spectrum.

The satellite operators admit they are gravely concerned that the FCC’s deadline is simply not permitting enough time for clients to register their dish installations.

SES and Intelsat described the “time sensitive nature” of these tasks, and Intelsat is reported to have said that one of its key clients has 3700 unlicensed dishes installed, and would now need to pay $435 to register each dish, a total of some $1.6 million in filing fees.

Categories: Articles, DTH/Satellite, Spectrum