According to foreign media reports, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on a controversial plan on Friday to pay satellite companies to free up key intermediate frequency bands for 5G use. The agency approved specific procedures for auctions and tenders with 3 votes to 2 votes.

Although the Democratic committee agreed that more valuable intermediate frequency bands needed to be promoted for the development and deployment of 5G in the U.S., they criticized republican-led agencies for overselling their satellite bands due to regulatory oversight during auctions within billions of dollars in rewards.

It is reported that the C-band auction is the latest action of the FCC to release more frequency bands for 5G networks. The agency has been under pressure to provide more of the so-called IF bands, which is crucial for 5G deployments because it will allow signals to travel farther than the 5G UHF spectrum already auctioned by the FCC.

The plan will require the FCC to pay satellite companies $ 3 billion to $ 5 billion in compensation.  But the most controversial part of the plan should be plans to pay satellite providers $ 9.7 billion to accelerate their speed away from the C-band.