So, the FCC’s at it again. Remember that big push a few years back when they auctioned off the lower C-Band, you know: the 3.7 to 3.98 chunk, for 5G? All the broadcasters grumbled, but most just retuned up a few MHz and called it a day. Easy fix, relatively speaking. Well, now they want to go after the rest of it. Specifically, the 3.98 to 4.2 GHz sliver that you and everyone else have been relying on to pull in network news, sports feeds, syndicated radio, emergency alerts, and everything in between.

Congress passed a law that doesn’t just allow another auction, it basically demands it. Within two years, at least 100 MHz of that upper slice needs to hit the auction block. So the clock’s ticking, and the FCC isn’t asking if they’ll reallocate. They’re deciding how much and how painful it’ll be.

Now, here’s where it gets spicy. The wireless carriers, who never met a mid-band frequency they didn’t like, are all for it. And guess who just joined their side? Aviation. Yep. The same folks who were screaming bloody murder about radio altimeters during the last C-Band scuffle are now holding hands with telecom and talking about “safe and aggressive timelines” to roll out more 5G. Suddenly altimeters aren’t the villain anymore, filters have improved, timelines got smarter, and now they’re on board, more or less.

Meanwhile, the broadcasters are shouting that they’ve got nowhere else to go. They already gave up the easy part of the band in 2020, and this last chunk is doing all the heavy lifting now. They’re basically saying, “You take this away, and you better pay to move us somewhere else, and protect us from interference if we stay.” Fair ask, really, when you’re distributing to thousands of downlinks that still run off those big white dishes.

Then the sports leagues chimed in. Think NFL, MLB, the whole gang. They’re warning that if you squeeze the upper C-Band too hard, there won’t be enough uplink/downlink capacity left for live events. And no politician wants to be the one responsible for a Super Bowl blackout. They’ve got a point too: live broadcasting depends on clean, dependable satellite hops, and 6 GHz, which handles the uplinks, is already crowded as is.

But the satellite companies, the ones actually delivering most of this content, are staying real quiet. SES and Intelsat merged not long ago, and now they basically run the show in this part of the band. They’re not making any noise, because whichever way this goes, they’ll be in the driver’s seat. If there’s a repack, they’ll get paid again. If broadcasters need new distribution, they’ll sell the service. They’re holding the cards, quietly.

So what’s next? The FCC’s going to put out a proposed rule. That’ll shape how much spectrum they carve off and what kind of protections or reimbursement broadcasters can expect. Carriers will play nice near the 4.2 GHz edge. Aviation will keep calm. Broadcasters will dig in for cost recovery and interference protection. And everyone will pretend this is about innovation, when it’s really just about who pays to move and who profits from it.

It’s a negotiation, with a ticking clock and a very predictable ending.