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FCC Announces Upper C-Band Spectrum Auction

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Today, 2:22 PM by Rich Brome @rbrome.bsky.social

The FCC today announced a major new auction of 160 MHz of "prime mid-band spectrum", ideal for 5G and 6G wireless service. The spectrum on offer covers the Upper C-Band; specifically, 3.98–4.14 GHz. This is adjacent to the Lower C-Band spectrum auctioned off between 2019 and 2023 and deployed in the US for 5G in band 77. This will create one large band spanning 440 megahertz (3.70–4.14 GHz), creating potential new opportunities for faster 5G (and 6G) networks, with greater capacity. Pending a July 22 FCC vote to formally approve auction rules, the auction will take place in 2027. Auction winners must help pay relocation costs for the current users of the spectrum: satellite operators. The auction structure will also help pay the aviation industry for the replacement of older radio altimeters operating in the nearby 4.2–4.4 GHz band, that could be subject to interference from 5G operating in the band being auctioned off. The transition schedule has the new band going live as early as December 2030 for top-75 markets, and in remaining markets as soon as July 2031.

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