ACA, Cox Talk C-Band Earth Station Costs; NAB Urges Interference Protections
The FCC is sending contradictory messages how it will calculate C-band earth station lump sums in the band's repurposing, saying the sums will be based on estimated average costs for relocation but also on the number or types of antennas…
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or technology upgrades needed by each specific such station, said ACA Connects. The latter formula runs contrary to the C-band order, said a docket 18-122 posting Friday on a Wireless Bureau call. ACA said bureau assertions the payment clearinghouse will verify the need for a component part of an earth station operator’s lump sum election have no order basis. It said the FCC is proposing a lump sum amount available to MVPD earth station operators "significantly lower" than the group's estimates of $764,500 each. Cox told the bureau the order mandates lump sum amounts reflect average, estimated costs of relocating incumbent earth stations to the upper 200 MHz of the band. It said the modulation and encoding technology upgrades proposed in satellite operators’ plans are a direct result of the transition. Citing Intelsat's C-band order petition for reconsideration (see 2005270031), NAB said if the FCC decides satellite operators don't have responsibility for ensuring same-quality service to earth station users after the transition, it must clearly state flexible use operators must remediate any harmful interference. There can't be any ambiguity about that earth station operators and their viewers and listeners need protection through and after the move, the group said.