Fearing 'Gutted' Unified Licensing, Satellite Raising Red Flags
The satellite industry is resisting the unified licensing draft order on Nov. 18's agenda (see 2010270065), urging the FCC to go back to some proposals it floated in the NPRM but ultimately rejected. Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup told us SIA and individual companies are lobbying the eighth floor. The draft NPRM on satellite use of 17 GHz band, also on the agenda, is considered comparatively uncontroversial.
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The FCC took a hard turn from many proposals in its 2018 NPRM (see 1811150028), said Stroup and a satellite operator counsel. The Part 25 blanket licensing NPRM had indicated the agency was moving toward a unified licensing policy covering all bands, but the draft order covers only certain bands, Stroup said.
Stroup said the biggest issue with the draft order is probably the requirement that earth stations be operating within a year of being licensed or six months after a satellite authorized to communicate with that earth station is operating. He said it often can take more than a year from the design and licensing of the earth station to going through construction. Going through a re-coordination process in bands shared with upper microwave flexible use service if it takes longer than a year can affect the cost and timing of being able to get an earth station operational, he said.
The commission axing the requirement for prior authorization for minor changes to earth stations was welcomed. Satellite interests "are concerned that the lack of a more encompassing unified licensing regime and a more flexible earth station licensing regime will further hinder the satellite industry's efforts to bring its broadband services to users." That's docket 18-314 filings Wednesday (for example, here). SIA and satellite operators recapped calls with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks raising concerns about the draft order. Also on the calls were representatives of EchoStar/Hughes, Amazon, Intelsat, SES, Boeing, Telesat and Iridium.
The FCC "gutted" a lot of the benefits of unified licensing, the operators told the agency. The NPRM proposed unified licensing for earth stations needing individual coordination and not eligible for blanket licensing, but the draft order rejects that, saying adding them to a unified license "would create more complexity than its streamlining benefit."
The NPRM proposed aligning out-of-band emissions limits that met international standards. After wireless industry pushback, the draft order said the agency is opting not to change its OOBE rules because it's unclear if terrestrial service might be affected at the band edge. The agency said it might revisit the issue with a fuller record and reconsider adoption of globally standardized default OOBE limits for satellite. The regulator didn't comment Thursday.
Satellite interests told us 5-0 approval of the 17 GHz NPRM wouldn't be surprising since there weren't objections raised to the petition, just concerns from direct broadcast satellite operators that such an approach not impact them. There aren't many opportunities to expand satellite use of spectrum, and there's a lot of pressure on satcom spectrum elsewhere, a satellite lawyer said: The NPRM just allows more use of existing satellite spectrum in operational bounds of how it's already being used, so it shouldn't affect existing services.