America’s Communications Association and other members of the leading rival group to the C Band Alliance said they made tweaks to their proposal for the spectrum, filing in FCC docket 18-122 a supplement to their “5G Plus Plan.” The others behind the plan are the Competitive Carriers Association and Charter Communications. The biggest change is that the proposal increases the amount of reimbursable funds for programmers by about $800 million. “Our members share an interest in preserving a healthy ecosystem for video delivery, so we took these questions very seriously,” blogged ACA President Matt Polka: “After dozens of individual conversations with more than 10 programmers of different sizes, and a series of webinars with even more, we supplemented our plan with additional details that incorporate programmers’ feedback.” Polka urged the FCC to adopt the plan. “Charter’s perspective on the reallocation of c-band spectrum for 5G is informed by its position as a growing player in wireless and a provider of video programming and high speed broadband to millions of Americans living in urban, suburban and rural communities across 41 states,” a Charter spokesperson emailed. “The goal of this proceeding is to find a solution that clears and assigns C-band spectrum, efficiently and expeditiously, enabling 5G services in the U.S. as fast as practicable," emailed Peter Pitsch, CBA head-advocacy and government relations. “The ACA Connects’ ‘top-down’ proposal would foist a fiber-based concept on the entire video distribution system by an arbitrary date. The CBA plan remains the best way to balance all of these important priorities.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday he still expects a proposal in the fall. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he doesn't like the idea of a private auction, like the CBA proposal. Asked after the commissioners' monthly meeting if there's a band-clearing proposal he favors, he said "we need to be led by the science." He also wants to ensure the federal government and citizens "are the ones who benefit." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel didn't comment.

Rural broadband providers want the FCC to update or clarify eligibility requirements for applicants in its upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auctions to award up to $20 billion in USF dollars to companies that can deliver high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved parts of rural America (see 1908010060). In comments posted through Monday on docket 19-126, industry groups differed on whether and how to expand the pool of applicants that could receive the federal funding to deliver high-speed internet service to remote communities.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Even if the C-Band Alliance releases a plan to provide as much as 300 MHz of spectrum for 5G, there’s no guarantee the FCC won’t opt for an alternative, America's Communications Association Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Ross Lieberman told the Competitive Carriers Association conference Wednesday. ACA, along with CCA and Charter Communications, have their own plan (see 1908150042). CCA officials promoted that here (see 1909170023).

One of four members left a group of satellite operators seeking to have its sector sell about 200 MHz that would be repurposed for 5G. Eutelsat dropped out of the C-Band alliance, it said in a brief FCC filing and release Tuesday. It cited disagreements with other CBA members, without being more specific. The company wishes to “take a direct active part on discussions on C-band clearing and repurposing,” it said. The departure stirred more speculation about what might happen to the swath of airwaves.

While an FCC proposal is still taking shape, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is telling industry officials he wants at least 300 MHz of C-band spectrum allocated for 5G. Pai also appears to be leaning toward an FCC auction rather than a private sale to allocate the licenses, industry officials said. The C-Band Alliance plan for clearing the band has dominated discussions. Last week, the FCC took reply comments on alternate proposals (see 1908150042). Again, comments were sharply divided. Pai said last month the FCC should have “results to show” on the C band in the fall (see 1907050024). The FCC and CBA didn't comment.

The cable industry hopes for at least incremental improvements in the retransmission consent regime via the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization that Congress likely will act on later this year, said America's Communications Association Chairman Patricia Jo Boyers in the latest ACA Connects podcast, released Thursday. She said bigger hopes are tied to the Modern TV Act (HR-3994) and the possibility of its repeal of the retrans regime. She said what's spent on retrans cuts into what ISPs can spend on extending or upgrading their networks. "It's real for me," said Boyers, the president of Boycom Vision.

The C-Band Alliance told the FCC its proposal remains the best alternative for opening the band for 5G. Other commenters endorsed a proposal by America’s Communications Association, the Competitive Carriers Association and Charter Communications, or a study by Jeff Reed of Virginia Tech and Reed Engineering on sharing the band with fixed point-to-multipoint (P2MP) operations (see 1907020061). Industry officials said there's little consensus on the band. Comments were due Wednesday in docket 18-122.

NAB told the FCC it should move forward on the C band and not wait for more "ill-conceived" proposals on how to reallocate the spectrum for 5G. The FCC can make no more than 200 MHz available without raising interference concerns, said a filing Wednesday in docket 18-122. “If the Commission caves to unreasonable and unjustified pressure to reallocate more spectrum in the C-band for terrestrial wireless services, it will no doubt be harming the backbone of our nation’s audio and video content delivery system,” NAB said: “Further delay in reallocating 200 MHz of spectrum will give oxygen to ill-conceived, self-interested schemes that are out of touch with reality.” The FCC shouldn’t force broadcasters to rely on fiber as an alternative to C-band spectrum, as proposed by a coalition led by America’s Communications Association (see 1907150010), NAB said. ACA didn’t comment on the NAB arguments. But ACA said in a filing posted Wednesday it spoke with Aaron Goldberger, aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, about its plan. Coalition members had conversations “with most of the MVPD programmers that use the C-band for delivery of video programming and have participated in the proceeding, and that it has a few more scheduled this week,” ACA said: “Within weeks, ACA Connects will be supplementing its original proposal. The additional material will further detail how the fiber network would be designed, established, launched, maintained, and paid for, particularly the part of the network that connects programmers to data centers.” China is "spending tens of billions of dollars to deploy high-capacity fiber-optic and advanced wireless infrastructure in order to win the race to 5G,” emailed ACA Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Ross Lieberman. “To compete, the United States must do the same. The 5G Plus Plan is the only proposal before the Commission that clears at least 370 MHz on a nationwide basis and builds out more than 100,000 miles of fiber to small markets and rural areas. It’s hands down the best solution in the record.” ACA understands broadcasters want to remain in the band and can under the plan, he said: “It now seems broadcasters want to tell small cable operators to stay on the band too.”

Two new podcasts highlight bipartisan support for deploying broadband infrastructure to reach all parts of rural America. In a "Broadband Conversations" podcast from FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel posted Friday, Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Iowa, said reliable broadband connectivity could play a role in keeping residents from leaving places like her state and encouraging those who had left home to return to "start small businesses in the small communities where they grew up and be able to thrive." Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., said broadband Internet access is no longer considered a luxury even in small towns: "It is part of our infrastructure and should be thought of as such." On Thursday, "ACA Connects" posted a podcast conversation between America's Communications Association CEO Matt Polka and Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio. Johnson said he hopes his Democratic colleagues will agree to roll up their sleeves to help move infrastructure legislation that includes a focus on rural broadband.

The FCC is expected to take up a C-band order in coming months, but several industry officials predict a vote is unlikely before the Nov. 19 commissioners' meeting. Chairman Ajit Pai’s office recently told several parties if they have additional proposals for the band, get them in as quickly possible. Agency officials said Pai is getting close to making decisions, though the commission is waiting for reply comments on the most recent C-band proceeding on a clearing plan. Initial comments came last week (see 1907050035).