In light of initiatives by the FCC, OFCOM in the UK, and other national administrations concerning potential C-Band Broadcast Spectrum (3.7 to 4.2 MHz) reassignment for 5G, the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU) is expressing their concerns over program collection and distribution and the potential impact on hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. To read the full position paper, visit worldbroadcastingunions.org.

With insufficient C-Band spectrum remaining available for broadcasters’ use, existing distribution and collections systems may be compromised, especially in countries with equatorial geography and high rainfall. Additionally, reallocating C-Band frequencies to other services may, over time, increase pressure on the remaining uplink band further limiting its use and compromising existing C-Band users and service reliability, increasing costs to the broadcast community.

“The WBU contends that any consideration of reallocating C-Band spectrum is a serious issue with technical, economic and service implications,” says Michael McEwen, Head, WBU Secretariat. “Detailed impact studies involving all stakeholders need to be undertaken to fully understand the consequences before such a reallocation takes place.” 

The broadcasting unions who belong to the WBU are the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB/AIR) and the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA).