The US is preparing another multibillion-dollar 5G spectrum windfall, pairing a 2027 upper C-band auction with a 2028 2.7 GHz sale, while the FCC also rebuilds satellite licensing for the LEO era. Across the Atlantic, Ofcom takes a different route, balancing mobile and Wi-Fi ambitions in the upper 6 GHz band.
In sum – what to know:
Spectrum machine – Upper C-band auction will add 160 MHz to create a contiguous 440 MHz “super band” with existing C-band holdings; a follow-on 2.7 GHz auction is expected in 2028, alongside battles over 4 GHz and 7 GHz.
Expensive transitions – Satellite operators and aviation users must vacate or adapt to protect the new C-band allocations. The FCC is shifting relocation costs to carriers; the FAA is overseeing a major altimeter upgrade.
Priority or shared – While US 5G and Wi-Fi advocates compete for prime upper mid-band spectrum, the UK has adopted a shared-access model for upper 6 GHz, to split prioritized use between both camps.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set new rules to auction 160 megahertz of spectrum in the upper C-band (3.98-4.14 GHz) by July 2027. It has also “got a number of auctions teed-up for 2028”, according to chairman Brendan Carr. These include a chunk of the 2.7 GHz band, plus certain others that have so far not been identified. Besides, the FCC has voted to overhaul its space and earth station licensing process, including to discard and “rebuild” legacy (part 25) rules “from first principles”. It said the speed of its satellite licensing reforms is “historically unprecedented” within the federal government – and “something many have considered unimaginable”.
Upper C-band schedule
The upper C-band auction will “bridge” the gap to the lower C-band to create a contiguous and harmonized “super band” with 440 megahertz of spectrum (3.70-4.14 GHz). The lower C-band auction in 2020 generated around $80 billion, via the sale of 280 MHz to the likes of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. In customary fashion, the FCC dangled it as a “gigantic swath” of mid-band spectrum that “no other industrialized country can boast”. The 2027 auction will see 60 percent more spectrum available than “required under law”, via 3,248 new licenses. It will raise “tens of billions of dollars more” to support US “deficit reduction and national priorities”, it stated.
The FCC itemised the economic impact as $422 billion GDP, 2.4 million jobs, and $621 billion in “consumer surplus” (value from reworked spectrum). It said the schedule – “on time, on budget, no surprises” – will see the band open for usage in the “top-75 markets” in the mainland US before the end of 2030, and elsewhere by mid-2031. Incumbent and adjacent licensees, supplying fixed-satellite (FSS) and aviation services, are to move out of the band by the end of 2030 – with the former cohort pivoting to alternative frequencies or IP-based distribution, and the latter, operating aircraft radio altimeters at 4.2-4.4 GHz, mandated to install altimeter retrofits to “ensure a successful coexistence”.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has coordinated with the FCC to manage the transition, mandating a $4.5 billion radio altimeter upgrade program across the aviation industry to prevent 5G interference. For their part, FSS operators consider the obligation to vacate the band – going to a mix of the remaining 40 MHz upper C frequencies, plus standard commercial blocks of the Ku-band (10.7–12.75 GHz and 14.0–14.5 GHz), and IP/cloud-based distribution networks – as a complex and expensive task. SES estimates its clearing costs will exceed $3.6 billion, and require five new hybrid satellites and two in-orbit backups. Eutelsat projects its costs at roughly $750 million.
But the FCC rules also mandate that winning telcos in the 2027 auction must pay to cover FSS operators’ transition expenses. During the lower C-band auction, incumbents collectively walked away with $9.7 billion in accelerated relocation payments on top of covered costs, establishing a lucrative precedent. Plus, they are pragmatic, clearly, given the political backing for the auction – including Congress passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to force the auction.
2028 2.7 GHz auction; plus more
Which means more 5G spectrum in 2028, it seems, including a 210 MHz block of the prime 2.7 GHz band (2.69-2.9 GHz), currently used for government radar, meteorological satellites, and military radiolocation services.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has targeted 2.7 GHz for 5G and early 6G development, and as a study band to look at coexistence with legacy radar. Meanwhile, the Cellular Telecoms and Internet Association (CTIA) is lobbying the FCC and NTIA to unlock big blocks of the 4 GHz and 7 GHz bands, as well – specifically, a 400-540 MHz chunk at 4.4-4.94 GHz for a wider upper mid-band 5G channel, and a 400 MHz block (at least) of shorter wavelengths in the 7.125-8.4 GHz range for next-gen 6G services. The latter debate has turned into a turf war between telcos and Wi-Fi providers, eyeing it for unlicensed use with Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 8.
Carr said: “For all the carriers, there’s been a lack of spectrum for a long time; we’re now expecting billions of dollars in bids from carriers. The good news is spectrum is a good investment. You can turn it around and put it to use and, as we’ve seen over the years, it is an appreciating asset as well. That’s the template we’re on right now. We just did one, [there’s a] big one next summer, [and then] 2.7 [GHz] in 2028.”
T-Mobile issued a response from chief executive Srini Gopalan to the FCC’s latest about the upper C-band auction and nominal 2.7 GHz schedule. He stated: “The best wireless service in the world and the jobs that come with it require the government and industry to keep [their] foot on the gas as we accelerate 6G. That’s exactly what chairman Carr did this morning by adopting pro-6G rules for the C-band 2.0 auction, and committing to a 2.7 GHz auction in 2028. The auction of two ‘super bands’ of mid-band spectrum in the next two years will extend America’s wireless leadership and will deliver real results for Americans during this administration.”
Satellite licensing ‘assembly line’
The FCC has also just torn up its decades-old ‘part-25’ licensing laws for space and earth stations to speed-up how satellites (space stations) and ground antennas (earth stations) get approved. Instead of treating them as separate custom installations, its new ‘part 100’ framework processes them as unified modular systems. It is a direct response to the rush of low Earth orbit (LEO) applications across its desk over the past 24 months, which have clogged the agency’s legacy paperwork systems. It is presented as a fast-track “licensing assembly line” for fast-moving LEO operators, allowing them to rapidly deploy, replenish, and upgrade their fleets.
Geostationary Orbit (GEO) operators are also impacted by the shift to the new part 100 rules. Traditional GEO companies benefit from the default 20-year license extensions and the removal of outdated milestone requirements. However, they must adapt to new spectrum-sharing policies that eliminate fixed power limits, forcing GEO and LEO operators to cooperate more closely to avoid jamming each other’s signals. The framework introduces a third category, as well, for ‘variable trajectory spacecraft’ (VTSS) – to extend streamlined licensing to unique vehicles like space tugs and lunar landers that do not maintain a traditional orbit.
The new framework cuts through legacy red tape to eliminate “unnecessary licensing and operating rules” – per Carr’s so-called ‘delete, delete, delete’ initiative to purge outdated telco regulations across the agency. It basically moves the FCC away from micro-managing how a system is built to focus instead on whether it causes interference or safety issues.
Shared 6 GHz access in the UK
Meanwhile, very interesting, across the pond…
The UK has just moved to sidestep the polarised US debate about whether the upper mid-band should belong to mobile operators or Wi-Fi providers. Regulator Ofcom has this week (July 20) introduced a new split-spectrum sharing framework for the upper 6 GHz band (6425-7125 MHz) that gives varied priority to both Wi-Fi and 5G/6G – rather than allocating all of it to one technology. The lower 160 MHz (6425-6585 MHz) is designated for Wi-Fi-, where licence-exempt access is permitted under similar rules to the lower 6 GHz band. The upper 540 MHz (6585-7125 MHz) is designated as the mobile-priority portion for future licensed 5G-Advanced and 6G deployments.
But it is not a straight carve-up, actually: Wi-Fi devices will also be allowed to operate in the mobile-priority portion, but only under the control of automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems to manage coexistence as mobile networks are deployed. As such, it is an asymmetric sharing model. Wi-Fi gains access across the entire upper 6 GHz band, but mobile operators receive priority protection only in the upper 540 MHz. But it looks like a pragmatic response to the two factions, to stop the kind of lobbying in the US, and recognize both their claims.
