The FCC has no plans to postpone its planned auction of C-Band spectrum.
That is according to senior FCC officials speaking on background Monday (March 30) about the impact of COVID-19 on FCC processes and actions.
The C-Band is the midband spectrum currently used by satellite operators to deliver network programming to broadcasters and cable operators.
[Read: C-Band Plan Aims to Limit Broadcast Disruption]
The officials said there was still plenty of “bandwidth and time,” even given the move of the 3.5 GHz (CBRS) auction. They said it was still important to transition the C-Band to 5G use, but that, of course, if there was a compelling reason to adjust that timeline they that is still on the table.
Currently, the FCC plans to auction 280 MHz of the spectrum for advanced wireless beginning in December.
It announced earlier that it had postponed the auction of those CBRS spectrum licenses, but that had been scheduled for June, and it has only been pushed back a month.
The officials said there were no plans for blanket extensions of waivers or comment deadlines due to the coronavirus, but that the FCC would continue to respond flexibly to individual requests for more time on a case-by-case basis.
