C-Band Alliance Plan Assailed by Free Market Groups
The C-Band Alliance proposal for clearing the 3.7-4.2 GHz band is the opposite of a market-based approach, inevitably resulting in years of litigation and delayed 5G deployment while siphoning billions that otherwise would go to the Treasury, free-market groups said…
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in a letter Wednesday to the FCC. The spectrum "is not just a valuable American asset, it is a valuable strategic American asset with national security implications," they said. They urged the FCC to instead oversee a public auction. Signing were Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation, American Consumer Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Citizens Against Government Waste, Digital Liberty and others. CBA emailed that good spectrum policy's chief goal "is to move spectrum to its highest and best use as quickly as possible at the lowest possible cost to society [and its market-based approach] is the best means of achieving that goal: the larger consumer and societal benefits of quickly enabling 5G use of this ‘goldilocks’ mid-band spectrum dwarf any benefits of revenues gained from a public auction at some point years in the future. This approach is transparent requiring FCC oversight and approval.” Eutelsat in a docket 18-122 posting Wednesday pointed to Intelsat and SES having laid their transponder migration plans for any C-band clearing (see 1902070045) and spelled out its own migration plans for its C-band satellites that provide service in the U.S.