The Satellite Industry Association discussed the role of satellite-based broadband services in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan with aides to Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioner Robert McDowell, according to ex parte filings. Representatives of the association met with the advisers in separate meetings Thursday. The SIA spoke about recent advances in satellite broadband services, planned investments, how broadband should be defined and other matters. Several members of the association joined SIA President Patricia Cooper in the meetings, including representatives of SES World Skies, Inmarsat, Hughes Network Systems and WildBlue Communications, the filings said. The satellite industry has made a determined effort in recent months to be included in policy discussions as broadband expansion has become a major goal of several government agencies.
The Satellite Industry Association was critical of suggestions by the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and others that it said would “harm current and future satellite operations,” in comments filed Friday with the FCC. The comments were made in response to the commission’s public notice on broadband spectrum allocation. WISPA suggested limits on earth station operations.
The FCC committed a “critical oversight” in failing to include satellite networks as a viable alternative for providing transport to Internet backbone, the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) said in comments filed with the agency (See separate report in this issue). The SIA was responding to the commission’s public notice on middle- and second-mile broadband availability, which is part of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. SIA complains that the public notice fails to even mention satellite service when one of its main goals is to provide connectivity to rural areas, something satellite broadband is well-suited for. Satellite especially makes sense for middle-mile transport because high throughput Ka-band systems and other technological breakthroughs will bring down costs substantially over the next five years, SIA said.
Members of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) asked the FCC International Bureau on Oct. 28 to grant a blanket waiver to in-orbit satellites that can’t fully vent excess propellent at the end of their lives, as required by the bureau. The SIA asked the bureau to waive the requirements for 11 satellite models made by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, Thales Alenia and EADS, according to an ex parte filing by SES Americom on Oct. 29.
The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) discussed the pertinence of satellite-based broadband services to the FCC’s National Broadband Plan with the legal advisers to Commissioners Meredith Baker, Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, according to ex parte filings. Representatives of the association met with Copps’ advisers Wednesday, Baker’s Thursday and Clyburn’s Monday, the filings said. SIA spoke about recent advances in satellite broadband services, planned investments, how broadband should be defined and other matters. Several members of the association joined SIA president Patricia Cooper in the meetings, including representatives of Dish Network, SkyTerra Communications, SES World Skies, Inmarsat and others, the filings said. The satellite industry has made a determined effort in recent months to be included in policy discussions as broadband expansion has become a major goal of several government agencies.
Four communications satellite operators have formed a coalition in an effort to increase commercial launch options, because the launch industry has seen large-scale consolidation in recent years, the group said on Wednesday. The group, named the Coalition for Competitive Launches, includes EchoStar, Intelsat, SES and Telesat.
The Satellite Industry Association said its supports HR- 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, considered Wednesday by the House. The bill includes a provision that would restore authority to the executive branch to determine the appropriate export licensing treatment for satellites and related components. SIA President Patricia Cooper said the “legislation will enable even stronger U.S. satellite exports, reinforcing the American industrial position in the global marketplace and at home, and safeguarding both jobs and critical space technology for the nation.”
The satellite industry overall seems to be weathering the financial crisis, according to recent reports by the Satellite Industry Association and Euroconsult, a telecom research firm (CD June 9 P 10). But analysts and experts said parts of the industry that rely more directly on consumers seem more vulnerable.
On April 2, 2009, the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade held a hearing on Export Controls on Satellite Technology.
The Satellite Industry Association wants Congress to include a subsidy of $400 per home for purchase of satellite broadband equipment in the economic stimulus package. Congress should “make satellite broadband networks eligible for these grants without specifying an arbitrary minimum speed,” and include a grant program for the upfront cost of the end-user equipment, SIA President Patricia Cooper said in a letter to Congress. “Improvements in speed are not the primary desire” of people who can’t get terrestrial broadband, she said. “Access to an always-on broadband service is much more critical,” she said. Satellite broadband also can provide backup. Including satellite in any broadband proposal could create new jobs, since new installers and call-center workers would be needed to keep up with the increased demand, SIA told Congress.