An already-bloodied C-Band Alliance has been dealt another brutal blow this week as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai declared his intention for a rushed public auction of C-Band spectrum – dismissing the Alliance’s pleas for a private auction to cushion the financial blow. There is no polite way of putting it – pushing through a public auction is the US government’s way of raking in 5G money as hard and fast as possible. While repurposing this spectrum for 5G – and “doing so quickly” in Pai’s words – will certainly benefit the US video streaming and IoT networking among others, the fact that a public auction would funnel proceeds directly into the government gullet has triggered reservations here at Rethink…