Helping the United States to win the race to 5G

For years, the U.S. had the challenge of allocating frequency spectrum to the fast roll-out of 5G. But the so-called C-band, used for 5G in many countries all over the world, was occupied in the U.S. by satellite operators to provide television signals to 125 million households.

When main satellite operators decided to form the C-Band Alliance (CBA), based in Washington DC, to clear a significant part of the spectrum, the responsible Federal Communications Committee (FCC) engaged.

waveL started to help CBA in 2019 to manage the campaign, translating a technically complex proposal into advocacy, Public Affairs and PR. The 15-months campaign addressed key challenges and concerns on how to value the spectrum, who owns it, how to clear it, how to auction it, how to avoid interference, how to do it fast, and much more.

The result: the FCC and CBA members found a way to clear the spectrum, secure U.S. television, launch new satellites and build corresponding ground stations. The 5G cellular operators in the U.S. (mainly AT&T and Verizon) offered to pay a total of $83 billion to the U.S. Treasury for the spectrum, and the FCC agreed to distribute a significant part of it (overall $15 billion) to the satellite operators, to cover their cost and incentivise them to do it fast.

Client Results

$83 billion paid by AT&T and Verizon

$15 billion distributed by FCC to satellite operators