WASHINGTON—The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has added MVPDs to the equation for figuring out costs and payments for the upcoming C-band transition, and is seeking further comment on the estimates for lump sum payments for earth stations.
As the Bureau prepares for the C-band transition, which will see current C-band spectrum users move to the upper 200 MHz of the band while the other 300 MHz is to be used for wireless broadband (280 MHz auctioned off, 20 MHz as a guardband), it previously released a Preliminary Cost Catalog that identified qualified earth stations and some of the elements that would be covered as part of the move.
After comments were received on the initial Cost Catalog regarding the eligible earth stations and costs, the FCC is adhering to requests to establish a separate category for MVPD earth stations. The Bureau acknowledges that MVPD stations may have additional costs compared to non-MVPD stations, like integrated receiver/decoder (IRD) replacements.
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Comments submitted to the Bureau also included methodologies for calculating the lump sum amounts, proposed lump sum amounts and additional costs.
The Bureau now seeks additional comments on the full slate of categories being offered and the methodologies for estimating costs and proposed payments. The deadline for comments will be seven days after publication in the Federal Register.
The full document is available online.
