C-Band Claims Processing Sees Calls for Deadlines
Satellite and wireless operators and interests generally agree with a C-Band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse call for a deadline by which final C-band clearing claims should be submitted, and many are pushing for deadlines to speed up clearinghouse claims processing, according…
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to comments Thursday in docket 18-122. Not all C-band clearinghouse expenses will be incurred by the proposed final submission date of Sept. 30, 2024, or the clearinghouses' targeted end date of June 30, 2025, Intelsat said. It said any final claim submission deadline must come with a process for foreseeable claims incurred after that deadline to be submitted and reimbursed. To simplify the clearinghouse process, Intelsat urged use of a sampling methodology for clearing costs and claims of less than $5,000 per antenna. SES said the average time for one of its claims to be reimbursed is 323 days, and it expects to submit nearly 1,000 more claims by a final claim submission deadline. Any final claim submission deadline won't promote an efficient close to the C-band reimbursement if the clearinghouse doesn't have similar deadlines by which it must process claims, SES said. It said 90 days to make a determination on a claim is "more than sufficient." Absent some way of improving the clearinghouse's claims processing timeline, the clearinghouse's proposed June 30 wind-down "may not be achievable," SES said. CTIA said the "slow reimbursement process and backlog of claims "does not serve anyone’s interests," and deadlines for submitting and processing claims and for closing out the clearinghouse process would give certitude and also help cap administrative costs. It urged a final close-out deadline of Dec. 31, 2024. Verizon suggested a Feb. 5 submission claim deadline for all costs incurred and paid as of the end of 2023 and a July 1 deadline for costs incurred and paid after 2023. It also urged 90-day claims processing deadlines for the clearinghouse and a Dec. 31, 2024, final closeout deadline. AT&T backed 90-day deadlines and a Dec. 31, 2024, end to all reimbursement-related activities. Pointing to clearinghouse administrative costs well exceeding what was estimated, it said the clearinghouse should be able to phase down its overhead as the number of claims declines.