Intelsat, SES hit with cable lawsuit
September 1, 2020
By Chris Forrester
Intelsat and SES have been hit by a lawsuit from ACA Connects which represents hundreds of cable operators in the US.
The ACA writ specifically challenges the FCC’s decision to repurpose C-band frequencies from Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat in order to create spectrum for 5G telephony and in particular the sums to be allocated to its members.
“Small, rural cable operators have never called for this C-band transition and have asked only that their businesses be treated with dignity and respect,” Ross Lieberman, ACA Connects’ SVP/government affairs, stated.
The petition to the US Court of Appeal asks the court to issue a ruling postponing a September 14th deadline for cable companies to decide between two proposed reimbursement plans. The action echoes a filing made to the FCC on August 13th.
The two proposals cover how the work to convert head-ends is handled.
ACA Connects is complaining that the compensation on offer by the satellite operators is not sufficient especially for many of their members who operate in small, rural communities. ACA Connects’ members serve about 11 million households.
Smaller cable companies “likely will be forced to decline the lump-sum option, and permanently forgo the benefits of potentially more efficient fibre upgrades” without integrated receiver/decoder costs being reimbursed, ACA Connects said in an FCC filing.