Commercial satellite operator SES SA said it will join an effort by Intelsat SA and Intel to share C-band spectrum with terrestrial mobile services operators to boost 5G rollout, according to Drew FitzGerald at The Wall Street Journal. Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler outlined the plan in an appearance before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on October 25, 2017, commenting on Intelsat’s response to a notice of inquiry from the FCC.
Fitzgerald reports that wireless carriers would prefer to move satellite operators off the band entirely, which satellite companies call a non-starter. He quotes Spengler saying, “It would not really be feasible to say, ’Hey move to another band, we’re using this now.’ Satellite operators have built satellites specifically for this. There’s a huge investment that’s already in place today.”
Speaking before the Senate committee last October, Spengler said, “We don’t believe sharing can work in the traditional sense and we proposed a new solution,” he said at the time. “And we proposed a solution with Intel saying let the industry work on this together. Let the market decide how we can free up spectrum in that band to allow the growth of 5G wireless, which we believe in, which we all want to happen, but also give some certainty to the broadcasters and television viewers around the country.”
Fitzgerald reports that SES and Intelsat serve about 90% of the U.S. market in the C-band, beaming video to cable companies for distribution. He adds, “Satellite companies say they could start moving their operations to a narrow section of the band about two years after that process starts.”
