FCC explains C-band incentives
July 28, 2026
The FCC’s upper C-band compensation payments targeted to SES, Eutelsat and Telesat, at an overall $6.3 billion (€5.5bn), sound impressive. However, the total is dependent on the frequencies controlled by the three satellite operators being cleared on schedule.
The FCC’s statement said: “Today we take a major step towards securing American’s wireless future and the robust economic benefits that it brings by making available through auction a 160-megahertz portion of the 3.98–4.2 GHz band (Upper C-band) for next-generation wireless services. In doing so, we respond to the surging demand for additional valuable mid-band spectrum for wireless services.”
The FCC added: “A pipeline of mid-band spectrum remains critical to keep pace with the escalating demand for mobile capacity, especially as networks evolve towards 6G. Americans consumed a record 132.5 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2025, and data usage has increased by roughly 35 per cent per year for the past three years.”
Freeing up the upper C-band means that there will be “a gigantic swath of 440 megahertz of contiguous 5G-grade mid-band spectrum,” continued the FCC.
The satellite operators use the upper C-band 3.98-4.14 GHz nationwide to provide space-to-Earth (i.e., downlink) signals of various bandwidths to licensed transmit-receive, registered receive-only, and unregistered receive-only earth stations nationwide. These signals primarily deliver programming content to television and radio broadcasters throughout the country, as well as telephone, data, and satellite communications services to customers, including federal users, on a contractual basis.
The FCC will auction these C-band frequencies for terrestrial cellular use by July next year.
The FCC’s compensation scheme for the three satellite operators will be paid in stages. SES will receive 89 per cent of the overall fund and this will be paid in two stages. The first payment (of $4.373 billion) will be paid on the primary deadline. The balance ($1.23 billion) will be paid on the final deadline. Similarly, Eutelsat will receive $393.12 million on the first deadline and the balance $110.88 million on the final deadline. Telesat of Canada will receive $147.4 million on the first deadline, and $41.58 million on the final deadline. Additionally, all three operators will be compensated for the costs of implementing the changes. The FCC estimates the transition costs at $4 billion to $5 billion.
The FCC reported: “SES and Eutelsat both specify that they will need to coordinate closely with customers to provide continuity of substantially the same service. SES proposes a number of specific measures designed to ensure that any future services or links in the Ku-band would be substantially the same as existing ones in the C-band, such as:
(1) the procurement and launch of new satellites to provide sufficient Ku-band downlink capacity that ensures similar link availability;
(2) having optimised Ku-band beam designs in which the beam power can be concentrated;
(3) cross-strapping the Ku-band downlink (11.7–12.2 GHz) with existing C-band uplink (5850–6425 MHz) to minimise the impact of rain fade
on the uplink;
(4) retrofitting existing C-band antennas with Ku-band feeds for added gain; and
(5) implementation of a terrestrial recovery network to fill in lost packets due to any sort of fade or interference.
“Eutelsat similarly points to Ku-band satellite acquisition and launch, alternative terrestrial distribution technologies, and the reconfiguration of ground-based infrastructure, as elements it proposes to use in meeting the needs of its existing customers,” stated the FCC.
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