Intelsat SA and other satellite providers would share as much as $14.9 billion under a proposal from federal regulators to compensate them for giving up airwaves in an auction to wireless companies, Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission plan announced yesterday would provide $9.7 billion in compensation to Intelsat, SES SA and other companies for leaving the airwaves quickly, and another $3.3 billion to $5.2 billion to pay for costs of making the switch. “It’s only fair that every single reasonable cost should be covered,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said yesterday. “So under my draft rules, the winning bidders in the C-band auction would be required to reimburse satellite operators for their reasonable relocation costs.” The companies are seeking payment for freeing airwaves U.S. regulators want to reallocate for mobile users. Wall Street had been fretting that a plan unsatisfactory to satellite operators would prompt them to walk out of the negotiations. Intelsat had hired bankruptcy experts at Kirkland & Ellis LLP to prepare for possible restructuring in the event it wasn’t able to increase the amount the FCC had discussed. At stake is what portion of auction proceeds, projected to reach tens of billions of dollars, should go to satellite providers including Intelsat and SES, both based in Luxembourg, and Eutelsat SA.
