Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat drive the C-Band Alliance (CBA) consortium

This consortium of satellite industry giants aims to facilitate the clearing of mid-band spectrum in the US for 5G, while protecting content distribution and data networks.

The main world satellite operators, Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat y Telesat announced this Monday the creation of a consortium called C-Band Alliance (CBA), an initiative that could accelerate the making available of mid band spectrum for 5G services.

The CBA consortium will be a facilitator, as described in a recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceeding presenting market-based companies' proposal to clear a portion of the C-band spectrum in the United States. The formation of the CBA is a significant achievement and demonstrates the industry alignment needed to make this mid-band spectrum available quickly, thereby supporting the United States' goal of winning the race to introduce 5G terrestrial services.

The market-based proposal was developed in response to a proceeding initiated by the FCC in August 2017, which led to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that was formally approved by the FCC on July 12, 2018 and published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2018. The proposal reflects the unique telecommunications environment in the United States and is intended to protect the quality and reliability of the extensive services provided by carriers. in the C-band spectrum to broadcasters, media and data companies in the United States. The proposal establishes a commercial and technical framework that would allow terrestrial mobile operators to quickly access spectrum in a portion of the 3,700 to 4,200 MHz frequency band in the US, accelerating the deployment of next-generation 5G services.

La propuesta especifica el uso de un consorcio, ahora conocido como CBA, para llevar a cabo la implementación técnica y comercial del proceso de compensación del espectro. Este proceso es necesario para reutilizar el espectro de la banda C para su uso en un entorno 5G. El CBA será dirigido por Bill Tolpegin, actual director general de OTA Broadcasting, quien se desempeñará como director general de CBA, mientras que el veterano del sector de los medios de comunicación Preston Padden se desempeñará como director de Promoción y Relaciones Gubernamentales.

Este acuerdo significa que los operadores de satélites que prestan la gran mayoría de los servicios de banda C por satélite en los Estados Unidos han acordado las medidas técnicas y comerciales clave necesarias para permitir la aplicación comercial del proceso de compensación del espectro. El consorcio también garantiza que los servicios al cliente estén protegidos de posibles interferencias a medida que se introducen nuevos servicios inalámbricos en la parte despejada del espectro.