C-Band Passes Away From Broadcast
By Danny Ray Boyer
[July 2026] The FCC has announced plans to complete the auction of the remaining frequencies broadcasters have been using in the C-Band by next July. By 2030, the frequencies will host a totally different set of users.
A lot is going on in the broadcast industry, what with various pressures to remove or keep AM in vehicles, replace ATSC 1 television with ATSC 3, dealing with satellite and streaming services, and the repeated bankruptcies of the big station consolidators.
C-BAND
Let us take a look at what is the C-Band, and what the FCC is planning.
For your information. the C-Band frequency range in the United States is from 3.7 – 4.2 GHz. Starting with the launch of Intelsat 1 in 1965, use of the frequencies was put into use for relaying television programming across the country.
In 1975, Satcom 1 was placed in orbit and the three national networks (and HBO) leased transponders for sending programming out to stations and cable systems – a transponder lease was around $1 million a year and a 3-meter receive dish cost about $10,000 to install, the effect was to cut transmission costs by one-third – bypassing microwave links and delivering clean video to relay to viewers.
Over the years, more and more satellites were launched to fill in the arc in the sky to reach the entire country with more and more programming. The FCC narrowed the spacing between satellites in the 1980s and as the ongoing generations of replacement satellites, more and more services, both national and regional were developed.
EVICTIONS START
It was in 2020 that the FCC auctioned off the lower 280 MHz of the C-Band (less a 20 MHz guard band).
In return for something like between $80 to 95 billion, the cell phone carriers received the opportunity to use those lower C-Band frequencies, with 5G phone systems were now developed in the growing cellular industry. The majority of the money went to the US Treasury.
Broadcasters (and other C-Band users) were forced leave 60% of the C-Band and relegated to the 200 MHz at the top of the band which is now 4.0 – 4.2 GHz. Some of the auction money was used to pay for filters as the remaining transponders were carrying more and more programming.
Currently, then, here is the current lineup (in the US) of what is “up” on the C-Band frequencies after the first FCC auction.
- 5G Mobile: 3.7-3.98 GHz (280 MHz)
- Guard band: 3.98-4.0 GHz (20 MHz)
- Satellite: 4.0-4.2 GHz (200 MHz)
C-BAND AUCTION V2.0
With the FCC voting at this month’s Open Meeting, 160 MHz of what was left – essentially all of the C-Band satellite folks are broadcasting on now – will be auctioned off during the coming months, leaving just a 20 MHz guard band, unusable for broadcasters. The expectation is that $30 – 60 billon will be raised.0020
The result: all networks and program providers that are currently being distributed via C-Band will once again have to move their transmission to another band with in the next couple of years.
Probably the decision that will ultimately have to be made by some will be to move their distribution via satellite to the Ku (12 Ghz) or Ka (18 Ghz) frequencies bands – which will require new dishes, feedhorns and LNB’s to be purchased and installed at all receive locations.
WILL KU WORK?
But that also brings up the next problem: unlike those in the C-Band, these much higher frequencies that are allocated in the Ka and Ku bands are subject to “rain fade.”
During heavy rain (or even with a thick upper cloud cover with lots of moisture in the cloud), receive locations will be subject to not receiving desired programming – unless they have physically very large receive only Ku antennas.
(For a rough “estimate,” ask your neighbors that have Direct TV or Dish Network (both of which operate in the Ka and Ku Bands) if they ever lose reception during heavy rain.
Alternatives include (as noted) larger dishes and a variety of IP feeds – with some opting for multiple feeds to ensure program continuity.
All of this will be discussed on the BDR Virtual Lunch Gathering live on July 30th and recorded on the BDR’s channel on www.youtube.com/thebdrnet/
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Danny Ray Boyer is a veteran Texas broadcaster. You can contact Danny at drboyer@centralcom.com
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