Kennedy Presses FCC to Require C-Band Incumbents 'Buy American'
Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., urged the FCC to require satellite operators buy U.S.-built satellites for relocating off the 3.7-4.2 GHz after the upcoming auction. Kennedy has raised concerns about the FCC C-band auction plan (see…
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2002130053). C-band incumbents previously committed to buying U.S.-built satellites for the transition, but “this is no longer the case,” Kennedy said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released Wednesday. “Now that the operators have been formally promised” up to $9.7 billion in incentive payments, “they have accepted proposals and are indeed moving forward with plans to procure launch vehicles, ground equipment and satellites from foreign manufacturers.” The "US. Aerospace industry has the capacity and ingenuity to meet objectives, on an accelerated timelines, for the FCC and satellite operators alike,” he wrote. The FCC didn’t comment.