The Satellite Industry Assn. and Cingular Wireless Tues. petitioned the FCC to reconsider a recent order waiving emission measurement procedures for ultra-wideband (UWB) transmission systems (CD March 11 p6). The waiver breaks administrative procedure rules and was granted without explanation of its rationale, the petitioners said.
The FCC’s proposed regulatory fee structure for fiscal year 2005 creates “an enormous disparity” between fees paid by cable operators and those paid by DBS providers, NCTA said March 8. One of several communications groups commenting to the agency about the fee structure, NCTA noted that cable and DBS “compete head-to-head for customers,” with DBS subscribership growing at double digit rates, while the fee structure treats them differently. Cable pays per subscriber, while DBS companies pay facility-based fees on their geostationary space stations, NCTA said: “And that facility-based fee, which has not increased as DBS subscribership has grown, is far smaller than the amount paid by cable operators.” Cingular Wireless questioned the FCC’s plan to assess commercial wireless carriers fees using data from the agency’s Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast (NRUF) form rather than carriers’ “actual subscriber counts, as revealed in their billing systems and reported in Securities and Exchange Commission financial filings, which is the most accurate source for such data.” XO Communications said the FCC has “improperly” treated Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) in a different way than similar microwave services. “The FCC proposes to assess fees on LMDS licensees based on the amount of spectrum associated with each authorization” instead of the past practice of assessing LMDS licensees based on Multipoint Distribution Service authorizations, XO said. “The FCC should assess fees on LMDS licensees consistent with the fees assessed with other upperband, geographically licensed microwave services such as the 24 GHz and 39 GHz services,” XO said. Law firm Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast said the FCC’s plan to calculate the LMDS regulatory fee on a “per MHz basis” would cause an 87% increase for Block A LMDS licensees, or $505 per call sign: “Such a substantial increase (or indeed any increase) is not appropriate for LMDS licensees at this time, since LMDS equipment has been slow to develop, and most systems are not yet constructed.” The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said it supported the FCC proposal to replace the current international bearer circuit regulatory fee with a flat fee collected from holders of Sec. 214 authorizations and cable landing licensees. If the agency decides to use an alternative plan from Tyco, “all non-common carrier facilities must be treated the same way,” SIA said.
Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) and Motorola said it’s important for the FCC to wait until the NTIA’s Institute for Telecom Services (ITS) completes its testing program to evaluate the risk of interference from UWB before granting any waivers of UWB rules. Their comments came as the FCC prepares to act on the waiver petition by the Multiband OFDM Alliance Special Interest Group (MBOA-SIG) at its meeting Thurs.
The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) and EchoStar -- the only 2 entities that have expressed opposition to FiberTower’s request for permission to use 2-ft. fixed service (FS) antennas in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band (CD Feb 9 p11) -- effectively conceded the installation of the dishes will be apparent to other spectrum users, FiberTower told the Commission in a filing Mon.: “Between them, SIA and EchoStar make 3 arguments, none of which set up grounds to defeat FiberTower’s request.” No FS entity has expressed any concern about increased interference or coordination problems, the company said: “Satellite providers argue that their restriction to international services at 11 GHz somehow justifies retaining a requirement for 4-ft. fixed service antennas. But in fact, the policy underlying the international restriction favors increased fixed service deployment.”
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) and Alcatel backed FiberTower’s FCC request for permission to use 2-ft. fixed service (FS) antennas in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band in filings on Feb. 3, but the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) wants the Commission to reject the proposal. FiberTower said the 2-ft. antenna would mean 1/3 the cost and 1/4 the weight of a 4-ft. antenna, which translates into lower costs for providing, installing and maintaining 11 GHz links, FiberTower said. “The only plausible downside to small antennas could be difficulty in frequency coordination due to the somewhat broader beam pattern,” a concern that the company has addressed with a proposed rule that shifts coordination disadvantage to the small antenna user, FWCC said. FS and fixed satellite service communities both have primary allocations in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band. SIA said granting FiberTower’s request would constitute a de facto rule change that shouldn’t be made without a thorough examination of policies that underlie the rule. The group argued that FiberTower hasn’t presented special circumstances that would warrant a deviation from the rule and said thousands of 2-ft. microwave antennas are just the beginning: “It is a virtual certainty that FiberTower’s competitors will seek waivers of their own, and there is no apparent basis for denying them comparable treatment. The reality, then, is that tens of thousands of 2-ft. microwave antennas could well be installed be fore the Commission has an opportunity to evaluate whether there are grounds for a rulemaking.”
Stratos Global Corp. and DirecTV joined the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) as associate members for 2005, the group said Tues.
The FCC will host its 2nd annual satellite forum March 21 at the Commission’s hq, International Bureau (IB) Chief Don Abelson announced Thurs. The forum, to focus on mobile and portable service providers, ushers in a busy week of satellite events in the nation’s capital.
The communications industry is aiding relief efforts in the areas devastated by the recent Asian tsunami by donating equipment, services and financial aid. Companies are working with the Red Cross, World Health Organization and United Nations to help in Indonesia and the hardest hit areas of the Indian Ocean region, officials told us.
The FCC dismissed a petition by the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) to require radar detectors to comply with a 500 microvolt limit within Ka-band downlink frequencies at 18.3-18.8 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz. In its May 28, 2003, petition, the SIA asserted that in light of the then-impending launch of several Ka-band birds, the adoption of proposed emissions limits for radar detectors would “forestall even the possibility” that detector operations would interfere with new Ka- services. SIA said that without imposition of limits, emissions would cause interference in much the same way radar detectors previously did in the Ku-band 11.7-12.2 GHz. The Commission told SIA it took the steps to ameliorate any potential harmful interference caused by radar detectors in Ku. The need for action arose because manufacturers operating in the 10.525 GHz band chose to employ local oscillators operating in the nearby 11.7-12.2 GHz Ku-band.
The FCC dismissed a petition by the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) Thurs. to require radar detectors to comply with a 500 micro volt limit within Ka-band downlink frequencies at 18.3-18.8 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz. In its May 28, 2003, petition, the SIA asserted that in light of the then- impending launch of several Ka-band birds, the adoption of proposed emissions limits for radar detectors would “forestall even the possibility” that detector operations would interfere with new Ka- services. SIA said that without imposition of limits, emissions would cause interference in much the same way radar detectors previously did in the Ku- band 11.7-12.2 GHz. The Commission told SIA it took the steps to ameliorate any potential harmful interference caused by radar detectors in Ku-. The need for action arose because manufacturers operating in the 10.525 GHz band chose to employ local oscillators operating in the nearby 11.7-12.2 GHz Ku-band. Police radar bands are 10.525 GHz, the 24.150 GHz and the 34.700 GHz. Unlike the case with Ku-, Ka-bands are not located in close proximity to the 18.3-18.8 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz bands used by Ka- satellites. The Commission also said no information was presented that suggests detectors currently employ local oscillators in the Ka-band nor does the worry exist that any other harmful emissions are significant.