C-Band Spectrum for 5G Would Help Rural Customers

Shifting use of 280 MHz of C-band spectrum (3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz) might make 5G relevant for rural broadband in at least a couple of ways. First, mid-band spectrum propagates better than millimeter wave signals, which make millimeter ideal for dense urban areas and small cells, but less than ideal for rural areas where signal coverage is necessary to contain network costs.

Some tests already suggest that mid-band radio sites colocated with 4G towers would provide nearly identical coverage. When beamforming radios are used, coverage using 3.5-GHz frequencies is virtually identical to 1.9-GHz 4G coverage, some tests have found.

The implication is that C-band spectrum could enable use of existing 4G transmitter sites and have the same coverage. So the latency and capacity advantages of mid-band 5G would relatively affordably be possible in rural areas. 

The second way C-band 5G could help rural customers is that both the Federal Communications Commission and Congressional lawmakers want 10 percent of C-band auction proceeds devoted to rural broadband. Depending on auction prices, that might mean possibly $3 billion or so in additional funds to support rural 5G. 

Intelsat, SES and other satellite firms could share as much as $14.9 billion to clear 280 MHz of C-band spectrum (3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz), part of a plan by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to repurpose that spectrum to support new uses including 5G mobile services. 

Relocation payments could range from $3.3 billion to $5.2 billion. Up to $9.7 billion could be earned by speedy action by the satellite firms to clear the band. 

Some believe the C-band auction could generate $30 billion to as much as $60 billion in gross proceeds. Perhaps $15 billion would pay for relocation of the existing C-band users on an expedited basis. So that would leave a net $15 billion to $45 billion in proceeds for the U.S. Treasury, and 10 percent earmarked for rural broadband would represent $1.5 billion to $4.5 billion in funding. 

The lower 280 megahertz of the C-band will be made available for flexible use. A 20 megaHertz guard band would separate the lower 280 MHz from the upper 200 megaHertz that would continue to be used by firms requiring C-band downlinks. 

“Under my draft rules, the winning bidders in the C-band auction would be required to reimburse satellite operators for their reasonable relocation costs,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “I’m proposing what I call ‘accelerated relocation payments’ to satellite operators if they meet deadlines for clearing C-band spectrum quickly.”

The satellite operators would receive these payments if they clear the lower 100 megaHertz of the C-band in 46 of the top 50 Partial Economic Areas by September 2021 and the remaining 180 megahertz of the C-band by September 2023, Pai said. 

The accelerated relocation payments would be made by the winning bidders in the C-band auction.