Deep Dive: The Upper C-Band Plans Are In, and SES Is Carrying Almost All of Them
SES, Eutelsat and Telesat filed their Upper C-band transition plans. What each will build, move and spend to clear 4.0 to 4.16 GHz, and who pays.
Deep Dive: The Upper C-Band Plans Are In, and SES Is Carrying Almost All of Them
SES, Eutelsat and Telesat put the cost of leaving 4.0 to 4.16 GHz at about $4.3 billion, and SES accounts for about 84% of it. Most of the money buys satellites. The second-largest line is a network on the ground built mainly to cope with rain fade.
$4.3B
Combined cost the three operators estimate for clearing 4.0 to 4.16 GHz
84%
Share of that estimate in SES’s plan, at $3.65 billion
8
New geostationary satellites planned: seven from SES and one from Eutelsat
30 Nov
Date comments on the three plans are due at the FCC
SES, Eutelsat and Telesat, the three satellite operators the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made responsible for clearing the Upper C-band in the contiguous United States, filed their transition plans between 3 and 5 November 2026. Each plan says what the operator will build, move and spend to get its satellite services out of 4.0 to 4.16 GHz before the band is auctioned for terrestrial wireless use. SES estimates its program at $3.65 billion, Eutelsat at about $685 million, and Telesat at likely less than the roughly US$800,000 it was reimbursed in 2020. Comments on the plans are due at the FCC on 30 November.
So what will it cost to clear the Upper C-band, and who is building what?
About $4.3 billion by the operators’ own estimates, and SES accounts for about 84% of it. SES plans seven new geostationary satellites plus a terrestrial packet recovery network to back up Ku-band downlinks in heavy rain; Eutelsat plans one new Ku-band satellite and is moving an existing satellite across the Atlantic to hold the orbital slot; Telesat repacks one satellite inside the remaining band and has so far identified three earth station antennas for filters. The winners of the FCC’s planned Upper C-band auction reimburse the costs the clearinghouse finds reasonable and necessary, on top of $6.3 billion in incentive payments, and the operators must finish by 30 December 2030 in the largest markets and 30 June 2031 everywhere else.
The seven sections of this Deep Dive are for paid subscribers.
Paid subscribers read sections 01 to 07, with each operator’s plan side by side, SES’s and Eutelsat’s cost tables, the earth station counts, the reimbursement deadlines and what the record still leaves open. If you already subscribe, sign in and the page opens where you are.
- 01What the three operators filed
- 02Why SES needs seven new satellites
- 03Why a terrestrial network costs so much
- 04What changes at the earth stations
- 05Who pays, and when
- 06What is still missing from the record
- 07Where this comes out
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