Advanced Television

FCC

Intelsat boss accused of insider trading

Intelsat has been hit with another claim of insider dealing over the reallocation of C-band spectrum and the collapse of Intelsat share values. This time the allegation concerns its current chairman and former CEO Dave McGlade. Intelsat is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reconstruction. McGlade is specifically alleged to have sold a significant package of Intelsat […]

January 18, 2021

OneWeb dramatically cuts satellite plan

During its bankruptcy last year, would-be satellite operator OneWeb requested permission to launch almost 48,000 satellites into orbit. That application was made in May 2020. Now, perhaps wiser heads have prevailed, and the overall number reduced dramatically by almost 85 per cent. OneWeb, in a filing this week with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has […]

January 15, 2021

FCC’s C-band auction at $80.9bn

The FCC’s Auction 107 continues to take cash from its US telco bidders. January 13th saw six 20-minute sessions (the original structure required 30-minute sessions) and generated bids worth $78 million placed on the table, and taking the overall total to a gross $80.910 billion. January 14th saw another six rounds of 20-minute sessions (Rounds […]

January 15, 2021By Chris Forrester

FCC C-band auction extended

There are evidently plenty of areas still open to bids in the FCC’s Auction 107. Indeed, news emerged on January 12th that AT&T is discussing a $14 billion bank loan to fund buying more 5G spectrum. Monday’s (January 11th) five sessions saw $118 million added, taking that gross total to $80.775 billion. The five sessions […]

January 13, 2021By Chris Forrester

FCC bidding slows for C-band frequencies

The five C-band bidding sessions in the US on January 8th only managed to raise $147 million (€120.6m), although taking the cumulative gross total to $80.65 billion. There are just two more days of planned bidding (January 11th and 12th) when the process should wrap up. Whatever the result on January 12th, this auction has […]

January 11, 2021By Chris Forrester

FCC frequency auction passes $80bn

Five US frequency auction bidding sessions on January 7th raised $1 billion. The gross total in the FCC’s repository now stands at $80.51 billion (€65.7bn). Some smaller telcos can expect discounts on their bids so the eventual total will be less than the gross amount raised. There remain five more sessions on January 8th, with […]

January 8, 2021By Chris Forrester

More FCC auction cash for satellite operators?

The demand for the FCC’s allocation of new spectrum in its current Auction 107 has been staggering. The bids and the auction have resulted in the highest-ever payments being made for spectrum. More than $80 billion has already been tabled in gross payments, and the process fully enabled by the satellite industry freeing up their […]

January 8, 2021

FCC auction nears $80bn despite DC riots

While the US Capitol was being invaded and surrounded by rioters, the FCC, situated some 10 blocks north of the chaos, quietly got on with a further 5 rounds of its Auction 107 for 3.7 MHz frequencies on January 6th. The extra amount raised remained fairly modest compared to previous days. An extra $3.34 billion […]

January 7, 2021By Chris Forrester

FCC C-band auction continues to break records

The FCC’s Auction 107 which is handling the sale of licences for the 3.7 GHz C-band has again broken records. The five bidding periods on January 4th saw an additional $6.67 billion placed in bids and taking the overall total to $76.5 billion in gross proceeds. There will be more. The auction continues throughout this […]

January 5, 2021By Chris Forrester

FCC C-band auction touches $70bn

The FCC’s Action 107, which looks after the sale of frequencies covered by the release of the satellite sector’s C-band 3.7 GHz spectrum, continues to break all records. Two bidding rounds on December 23rd took the overall amount of cash on the table to a thumping $69.83 billion. The position added some $3.5 billion during […]

January 4, 2021By Chris Forrester