It's a Bird… And a Plane… It's SuperBand - The Powerhouse for All Things Wireless
For the ever-increasing percentage of the population too young to get the reference in the headline? It’s a gentle alteration of the opening to a very old Superman show. Yes, Youngsters, people used to watch pre-timed television. In black-and-white, even.
One of Superman’s powers is the ability to fly. So the retro-analogy is apt for our futuristic digital wireless networks: They fly-in ever-increasing amounts of everything to everyone. Including, should you wish, seamless streaming of the old Superman show.
Why the Superman analogy? Because, thankfully, on July 22 the Donald Trump Administration will have an auction of 160 megahertz-worth of C-Band wireless spectrum:
“The rules that the FCC votes on next month will effectively harmonize wireless operations across the lower and upper C-band to create what Carr called a ‘super band’ that spans 440 megahertz of spectrum between the lower C-band (3.7-3.98 GHz) and now the upper C-band (3.98-4.14 GHz).”
The Superband. That Superband will greatly assist with the increased expansion of our wireless networks. And with it the entire economy. In 2025, around 5% of North American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was value from wireless activity. That was $1.6 trillion.
To do that? More spectrum for the networks is a must. Spectrum is the “airwaves” used for everything wireless. From your smartphone - all the way down to your car’s key fob and TV’s remote control.
Spectrum is a finite resource. There’s only so much of it to go around. The federal government possesses about 60% of it. So auctions like this one coming up are vital to getting more of it out The Feds’ hands - and into our wireless networks.
Not all spectrum is of equal utility. Some spectrum is more useful than other spectrum. The C-Band coming up for bids:
“(I)s often called the anchor or ‘workhorse’ for 5G because it offers strong performance without the propagation limitations of true high-band spectrum.”
5G - or Fifth Generation - is the network currently being developed and deployed. 5G is just a little faster than 4G. Peak speeds: 20 Gbps v 100 Mbps. Or 200 times faster. With that speed increase comes increase in data capacity: 10-100 times as much capacity, depending upon what you’re having the network do.
So the Trump Administration getting more C-Band to the private sector? And with its rules harmonizing that massive swath of it? Makes things much better for everyone.
And indeed makes it a Superband. Because having more continuous adjacent bands of spectrum makes everything better for everyone:
“Adjacent spectrum bands are important because they enable more channels, reduce interference, support coexistence, optimize performance, and meet regulatory requirements. They are the foundation for designing high-capacity, interference-free wireless networks in today’s crowded spectrum environment.”
Oh: This auction will net The Feds an estimated $30 billion to $75 billion. What do they plan to do with the coin?:
“(R)eimburse and incentivize satellite operators, fund aviation safety upgrades, and invest in broadband and next‑generation wireless infrastructure….”
The satellite operators are being incentivized - to free up more spectrum. So we can auction that off at a later date. Thereby continuing this virtuous circle.
The more Superbands we can create? The better off we all will be.