FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday (2/6) shared with his fellow Commissioners draft rules that would reform the use of the C-band and make a large amount of spectrum available for 5G, the next generation of wireless technology.
The C-band is a 500-megahertz segment of spectrum from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz, which is now mostly used by fixed satellite companies to beam content to video and audio broadcasters, cable systems, and other content distributors.
However, the FCC says, satellite companies don’t need the entire C-band to provide the services they are providing today. “They can provide the same services with less bandwidth, which would free up a significant amount of spectrum for 5G,” it notes.
Knowing what’s within Pai’s draft rules could be vitally important to broadcast radio and TV and the companies beaming satellite-delivered content to them.
