Intelsat Raises C-Band Cost Estimate; SES Says Phase I Done

Intelsat slightly raised its estimated C-band Phase I clearing expenses, while SES, Telesat and Embratel said they are done with Phase I or on the cusp, in FCC docket 18-122 accelerated clearing transition plan updates last week. Intelsat said the $10 million increase, to $1.76 billion, was driven by higher customer migration and compression expenses and telemetry, tracking and control/gateway relocation and ground system grooming plan costs. Its update increases the estimate of cable headends and cable antennas receiving Intelsat customer transmission and thus will need some retuning or repainting in the migration plan. Its estimate was 460 headends and 1,800 antennas; now it's 2,500 total headends and 10,000 antennas. SES said it's transitioned all services out of the 3700-3820 MHz band exclusive to the contiguous U.S. Estimated costs are unchanged. Telesat expects to complete the 3.7-4 GHz clearing in one swoop this week, instead of in two phases. Embratel said the transponder used for C-band services on its Star One C1 satellite is no longer operational and the satellite itself will cease operations by Oct. 9 and be deorbited.